By Iris Dyck
Fred DeLaroque鈥檚 hayfield is, in his words, 鈥渢errible.鈥
鈥淭here was no snow, so there was no runoff. There was no residual moisture in the ground for the crop,鈥 he told Global News.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no growth, and what is here is burning off very quickly.鈥
High temperatures and little rain have stunted the crop鈥檚 growth to roughly a third of what it should be for early July, DeLaroque says. He expects to produce fewer than 100 bales from his 140-acre field 鈥 the same field that provided 440 bales just last year.
His grazing pastures are equally as dry; without regrowth, he anticipates his 280-head herd of cattle will run out of feed in the next four to six weeks.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to have enough feed to carry cattle through, and it鈥檚 getting to the point now where we鈥檙e going to probably have to start feeding right away,鈥 he said.
That means either buying feed, or selling off his herd. Neither is an attractive option for DeLaroque.
鈥淢yself and a number of other people I鈥檝e talked to鈥 we鈥檙e going to feed the number of cattle that we鈥檝e got hay for, and the rest are going to go. We鈥檙e not going to go through what we did in 2021.鈥
That year saw a severe drought that prompted the federal and provincial governments to introduce relief programs, including subsidized feed and transportation costs and issuing hay permits for Crown lands.
Ashern Auction Mart general manager Kirk Kiesman says it led to producers leaving the industry and smaller herds in the area.
鈥淲e saw a decrease of 15 to 20 per cent of the cow herd in the Interlake because of the drought. To be sustainable, you know, we can鈥檛 really see that again,鈥 he said.
Kiesman told Global News the auction house has already sold the herd of a producer who ran out of feed.
鈥淭ypically we鈥檇 run one sale in August, at the end of August, and then we would be running three sales in September. If the weather continues the way it is right now, we might be putting one on the beginning of August depending on our producers,鈥 he said.
According to the province鈥檚 July 2, 2025, Crop Report, conditions in the Interlake 鈥渃ontinue to be dry in most areas and remain a concern for producers. Any precipitation would be welcome in all areas. Crops are shorter than usual, and some acres remain unseeded due to extremely dry conditions.鈥
Provincial agriculture minister Ron Kostyshyn鈥檚 office says while the situation isn鈥檛 as severe as 2021, they鈥檙e monitoring conditions.
鈥淢inistry of Agriculture staff are in touch with a number of producers in the Interlake, including Mr. DeLaroque. Crop specialists are currently closely monitoring dry conditions in the Interlake,鈥 a spokesperson for Kostyshyn said in an email.
Environment Canada is forecasting chances of showers Wednesday through Friday. DeLaroque welcomes the rain, hopeful the season can turn itself around, but worries the increasing instability in the sector is a deterrent for young producers.
鈥淭en years ago there was 15 people that I could name to you that were raising cattle 鈥 you could almost throw a stone through them 鈥 and now there鈥檚 me,鈥 he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the younger generation that once they鈥檙e discouraged and go to something else, they don鈥檛 come back鈥 it鈥檚 a pretty grey industry to begin with, there鈥檚 not a lot of young people involved.鈥