Farmers weren’t the only ones harvesting in August. Mother Nature’s white combine also rolled through.
According to a Sept. 6 update from the Canadian Crop Hail Association, more than one million acres of crop in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta were damaged by hail and strong winds between Aug. 19-25. That was on top of storms Aug. 12-18, resulting in 1,340 hail claims, and another 1,642 claims from storms July 29-Aug. 11.
Aug. 19-25 was “one of our busiest weeks, with multiple storms producing hail of all sizes, accompanied by big winds,” said hail association president Scott McQueen.
Read Also
June brings drought relief to western Prairies
Farmers on the Canadian Prairies saw more rain in June than they did earlier in the 2025 growing season
On Aug. 18, a strong system moved west of Brandon through Virden, Elkhorn, Russell, Roblin, Solgirgth, Birtle, Two Creeks, Hargrave, Maples and Harmsworth. It was a large storm typically seen in that region and came at the end of the usual hail season, said David Van Deynze, chief product officer with the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation.
Severity ranged from small damage to entire write offs. Insurers noted impact to 83,000 acres in the area.
That storm was followed by severe winds Aug. 21. MASC received few crop claims, although there were reports of damaged structures from that storm.
Alberta fared well compared to other Prairie provinces. George Kueber, claims adjusting manager for the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation, said that aside from “significant dates for claims” stemming from early August storms, the province is trending at average.
Regions southeast and northeast of Calgary were hit hardest Aug. 3-5, creating many claims on nearly one million acres. Claims also flowed in Aug. 12-21, but were scattered and less significant.
Saskatchewan damage
Saskatchewan bore the worst of the damage. Two major hail-producing storms gave a one-two punch to the province Aug. 21. Both moved across Saskatchewan on the same day, at a time when hailstorms are not typical.
“In a normal hail season, you see lesser and lesser events of hail as you get into August, September,” said Rodney Schoettler, chief executive officer of Saskatchewan Municipal Hail. “And this storm, on Aug. 21, was kind of an outlier in the sense that it was so big.”
His office saw claims on 430,000 acres from the Aug. 21 storms, most of them from the southeast region. From Aug.18-24, the company had claims from nearly 562,000 acres. August claims in total were made on 1.2 million acres.
The most recent report from the Canadian Crop Hail Association, which included damages Aug. 21, noted all types of crops sustained damage.
Wait times
While harvest is rolling and producers are pressed for time, Van Deynze, Kueber and Schoettler called for patience as adjusters work through claims. They don’t expect farmers to slow their harvest, but ask that those affected leave a test strip to be assessed.
