Farmers struggling to produce quality crops amid drought
It may have rained for a short stretch Saturday, but farmers will need much more than they got to salvage their fast-dying crops.
The owner of Didar Berry Farm in Delta, Anand Aujlay, says his farm is struggling to produce the type of high-quality blueberries it’s known for this year.
"The berries are getting a little bit softer,” he says. “Also it's getting heavy, it's not that juicy, because there’s no natural water."
The extended stretch of extreme heat and dryness has forced Aujlay to send workers home early, but it has also kept customers away, putting him on pace for a rough year business-wise.
"We probably have about 40 per cent less than a normal year,” he says.
A short burst of rain touched down across Metro Vancouver Saturday, but Environment Canada has yet to determine if it was enough to end the current streak of 45 days with no measureable rain.
Whether it was enough or not, SFU earth sciences professor John Clague says it’ll take a lot more than that to make any type of impact.
"I think we’re going to need somewhere between 50 to 100 millimetres,” said Clague. “The ground is so dry that we need a few days of a good soak.”
A multi-day stretch of rain is expected to hit Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley later this week.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.