Felicity Farms at the Prince George Farmers Market

By Tommy Osborne

Farmers and Weather

Erratic weather making life difficult for farmers

Jul 6, 2024 | 1:22 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Following a May and June full of rain and colder days, Northern B.C. is now several days into a heatwave that is expected to last for at least another seven days, and the erratic weather patterns has made life harder for some farmers.

“Every season has its challenges, but the more you get unusual, unpredictable weather, the harder it is to be a farmer. And it’s already bloody hard,” said Felicity Wilson, owner of Felicity Farms.

The rain earlier in the year also caused some problems for Wilson, as she said some vegetables came in late due to the cold. While rain can help with growing, the colder temperatures certainly didn’t, so this current heatwave may actually be beneficial, provided it doesn’t last too long.

“Typically right now I’d have cucumbers ready. Typically we would have had carrots at the beginning of June. Now, it’s the beginning of July, so things are just really late,” she said.

Wilson added her farm has irrigation, which helps manage the heat, but if she was a significantly larger operation she would expect the heat to be a cause for concern. Regardless of how the rest of the season plays out, the vegetables coming in late is quite concerning from a business standpoint, as farmers don’t have a wide window to operate and make profit.

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“(the impact) is huge because our season is already so short in the North. Business we don’t do in June, we don’t get a chance to make that up. (We have) July, August, September, and then we’re done because we get frost, we get snow,” she said.

Going forward, Wilson says the best possible conditions would be sunny, warm days, and rainy nights.

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