CBC News - 'As a farmer, it's depressing': Southwest Sask. sees less than 25% of normal rainfall in June
“As a farmer, it’s depressing to go out into the hot, hot, windy days and then watch your crops deteriorate,”
The latest national drought report shows that parts of southwestern Saskatchewan are experiencing extreme drought. Photo: (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)
Click here to read the article on the CBC.
As southwestern Saskatchewan enters its ninth consecutive year of drought, this recent article from CBC News highlights how farmers across southwest Saskatchewan are facing another devastating season, with some areas receiving less than 25% of normal rainfall in June. For Quinton Jacksteit, a longtime grain farmer and reeve of the rural municipality of Big Stick, this marks the ninth consecutive year of drought on his land. With little moisture and scorching heat, many farmers are preparing for heavy losses— some not even expecting to bring out their combines this year.
Big Stick is one of several municipalities— including Maple Creek, Fox Valley, Enterprise, and Waverley—to have declared states of emergency in response to worsening drought conditions. Recent data from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Canadian Drought Monitor confirms what producers already feared: the region received less than 25% of normal rainfall in June, and some areas saw a three-class jump in drought severity.
Southwest Saskatchewan is now classified under Extreme Drought (D3) conditions by the Canadian Drought Monitor—a one-in-20-year event on the five-tier scale. According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's June 2025 Drought Assessment, the region experienced the most significant drought degradation in the country. The report also notes that 87% of the Prairie Region, including 83% of agricultural land, is now considered abnormally dry or in moderate to extreme drought.
Producers like Kelly Bakanec, reeve of Fox Valley, describe watching their crops go backwards daily, with no rain in sight. “We probably won’t even take the combines out,” he said, pointing to the financial and emotional toll on farmers whose livelihoods are at stake. Current crop insurance programs, he added, weren’t built to handle long-term droughts— let alone nine years in a row.
As Canada’s agricultural heartlands struggle to adapt to a changing climate, national-scale initiatives like the Canada1Water project (C1W) are increasingly essential. C1W delivers detailed hydrologic and climate datasets covering all of Canada, supporting drought forecasting and long-term agricultural resilience. With large portions of the country now facing chronic water stress, tools like C1W will play a central role in equipping policymakers, researchers, and producers with the data they need to prepare for a more uncertain water future.
“If we don’t get any rain in the next week or two, it’s just going to burn up to nothing. We probably won’t even take the combines out.”