Farmers fear 'real danger' of fire due to dry conditions in southern Alberta

He's been farming for most of his life, and LynnJacobsonsays this is one of the worst years for lack ofrain that hecan remember.

Jacobson, president of the Alberta Federation of Agriculture, says conditions are tinder-dry on many farms, including his ownin the southern Alberta hamlet of Enchant, northeast of Lethbridge.

That's whyfarmers are taking precautions to avoid accidentally igniting fires when harvesting crops, he says.

• Farmers eye the sky, yearning for rain as heat wave covers southern Alberta

"Right now, it's extremely dry, so anything can cause a fire," said Jacobson, who runs a 1,400-acre operation. "It is a real danger, and this year is worse than other years."

Jacobson said he knows at least one farmer who has already had a fire in his fields this year aftera mechanicalissue with a combine sparked a blaze.

"I have afriend who was harvesting rye and before they could get [the fire] controlled, they lost over 20 acres of crop, just bang, just like that."

When harvesting crops, Jacobson said some farmers are strategically placing tractors and other machinery in their fields to act as firewalls in case of flames, adding that wind in the area causes fire to spread "so fast you can't hardly catch it with a truck."

'We do need rain sometime'

Calgary has had about 140 millimetres of rain this summer, an amount that Jacobsonsaid makes him envious.

Jacobson said Alberta farms further north are fairing better than those in the south but conditions are still dry provincewide.

• Record hot, dry weather leaves crops stunted on southern Alberta farms

In a good year, Jacobson said, he can usually count on harvesting between 30 and 50 bushels of grain per acre. This year, he said, he expects that number to be cut by more than half.

"Some of our dry land and pastures, now we're looking at maybe 20 [bushelsper acre] on the high side,"Jacobsonsaid, adding many fields will yield only "10 bushels anacre."

Jacobson said many farmers will have to dip into their crop insurance and takeadvantage of safety-net programsthis year.

• Canadian Farmers' Almanac predicting warm weather to continue into fall

The drought has farmers looking at other options to recoup some costs from lost crops, including farming winter wheat and planting different crops.

But Jacobsonsaid winter farming also comes with challenges related to rain.

"One hold back on [farming winter wheat]is that if we don't get any rain in September ... they can seed [fields]but they might not get any germination on it. So that's a factor, too. So we do need rain sometime in here."

The Canadian Farmers' Almanac predicts warm weather continuing into the fall and a moderate snowfall this winter.

• MORE ALBERTANEWS |Sausage master serves up hot dog tips for Labour Day
• MORE ALBERTA NEWS |'It broke my heart': Edmonton woman drowns in Maui on wedding anniversary