Some Saskatchewan farmers facing tough decisions

The long drought this summer affected the majority of farmers across Saskatchewan — some more than others.

It’s a problem that has the potential to carry over to next year, as certain areas of the province continue to deal with a lack of precipitation.

Kevin Hursh, an agriculture journalist and farmer, discussed some of the challenges farmers have already started dealing with.

“Typically with fertilizer, which is one of the main input costs, a price increase is typically expected in advance of seeding,” Hursh said on Wednesday’s Brent Loucks Show.

“Ever since seeding this year, especially since harvest, fertilizer prices have increased dramatically and now we’re looking at fertilizer prices that are two or more times (what) they were a year ago.”

While farmers remain concerned about the fertilizer bill for next year, there’s potential that some of the fertilizer used this past year is still going to be in the ground. It all depends on the level of moisture that each farmer received over the entire year.

“A tremendous amount of soil testing will take place as producers try to determine exactly what their nutrient needs are so they aren’t buying too much of that expensive fertilizer,” Hursh said.

Farmers now have a tough decision to make whether or not to purchase the fertilizer now at the current price. In the coming months, the cost of fertilizer is expected to rise even more.

Hursh said this past year has been hard on the majority of farmers, but he really feels for the younger generation during this dry stretch.

“I think there was people that were overly aggressive in contracting their crops. In a number of unfortunate cases, (they) contracted more than they actually grew and then had to buy their way out of contracts,” Hursh said.

It may take more than just one year before things return back to the way they were.