A family farm near Saskatoon is facing an incredibly difficult situation after a devastating hailstorm completely destroyed their strawberry crops, leaving workers stunned when they arrived Monday morning to find ice pellets still scattered among the ruined plants.
Chloe Kook, manager of Prairie Pathways farm, described the heartbreaking scene that greeted staff at the start of what should have been a normal workday. The damage from Sunday night’s storm was far worse than anyone anticipated, and experts believe the strawberry crop is too severely damaged to recover before the season ends.
The destruction extended beyond the strawberries, affecting the farm’s corn maze and pumpkin patches as well. However, there is some hope that these crops may still survive. A former owner who had cultivated strawberries on those same fields for more than two decades visited to assess the damage and was left in complete shock, calling it the worst destruction he had ever witnessed.
Despite the devastating blow, the farm team is maintaining a positive attitude. They have creatively renamed their opening weekend the ‘berry sorry’ weekend and plan to welcome visitors with local produce, fresh vegetables, snacks, and ice cream. The community has rallied behind them with an outpouring of support and promises to visit regardless of the missing strawberry experience.
Interestingly, a neighboring farm and distillery located just over a kilometer away reported no hail damage at all, highlighting the unpredictable and localized nature of these severe weather events that have challenged Saskatchewan farmers throughout an already difficult growing season.
