British Columbia is enduring a record-breaking dry spell, but farmer Amir Mann says the drought is far preferable to other recent weather extremes.

鈥淵ou can always apply more water, but it鈥檚 hard to get rid of water,鈥� he said, referring to B.C.鈥檚 historic floods last November.

Mann and others involved in agriculture say the downside of the drought, which has required some crops to be irrigated, is offset by benefits such as a longer harvesting period and little rot.

BC Agriculture Council presidentStan Vander Waal said fall鈥檚 dry spell had been useful to many farmers, after a wet spring.

鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing better than having a dry fall for farmers to get crop out of the field and to manage crops,鈥� he said in an interview.

鈥淲e had very adequate moisture, actually a little too much in the beginning. As long as they can get enough cover on the crop before the conditions start drying up, the moisture will retain enough to finish the crop off.鈥�

Mann, who runs Mann Farms in Abbotsford, harvests a variety of crops including strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, pumpkins, corn, gourds, squash and grapes.

鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 been so dry, we have very little rot and the quality is amazing,鈥� he said, pointing to his pumpkin crop as an example.

鈥淚t鈥檚 beneficial in regard to having no fungus and we don鈥檛 have to spray pesticides. It鈥檚 the end of the season and what we鈥檝e noticed is the pumpkin quality has been exceptional 鈥� nice, hard pumpkins (that are) bright orange, the stem is nice and strong, and there鈥檚 very little fungus.鈥�

However, he said, irrigation is essential. Farms without sophisticated irrigation systems, that instead rely on rain to water their crops, have likely fared worse, he added.

Sean Smulker, an associate professor in the faculty of land and food systems at the University of British Columbia, said the impacts of a drought depend on its timing in the crop production cycle.

鈥淲hat farmers are looking for is the total number of productive days over the summer period, and if it鈥檚 been impacted in the beginning or the end, that鈥檚 shaving away from that productivity and potentially impacting their yields and profitability,鈥� he said.

鈥淚deally, you鈥檇 be dry on both ends (of the season) and you鈥檇 be able to compensate much easier with some irrigation.鈥�

Vander Waal said he doesn鈥檛 foresee any major long-term impact on agriculture unless the drought extends through the winter, which is too early to predict.

鈥淥ur biggest concern would be what鈥檚 going to happen over the winter. The snowpack is critical in that it provides irrigation water for a lot of areas,鈥� he said.

Vander Waal noted that government-imposed water restrictions could be a concern in some areas of the province, saying farmers should be prioritized.

鈥淚f we want to keep the food supply alive, we also need to make sure we have water for the food supply,鈥� he said.

Mann said there are risk mitigation strategies farmers should adopt to prepare for extreme weather events. For instance, he said unfavourable strawberry yields led to the farm finding an alternative growing option: a strawberry greenhouse, which now allows the farm to harvest berries for 10 months of the year.

鈥淧rice fluctuations, market conditions and costs are all ever-changing, weather is always ever-changing, so as a farmer, you have to be able to provide either a consistent crop or high quality and you can鈥檛 do that based off the weather that we鈥檙e having. You have to be able to just do something a little bit above and beyond,鈥� he said.

Smulker said farmers are working to 鈥渂uild farm resilience鈥� to extreme weather events caused by climate change, including improved drainage and irrigation systems.

鈥淐ertainly there are a suite of technologies that can be deployed to make the farming system more efficient terms of labour, in terms of nutrients, and those all helped build resilience as well,鈥� he said.

Vander Waal agreed, adding that the government should also adopt a more sustainable water storage system.

鈥淚n agriculture, the key to success is ultimately recognizing that these climate change events are real, and they continue to happen. So, if we recognize the fact that we have surplus water at certain times of the year, the importance is to make sure we鈥檙e storing that water so we can use it when we need it,鈥� Vander Waal said.

鈥淭here鈥檚 this balancing act, and this is where government, from a policy point of view, can really, really can help.鈥�

鈥擝rieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press