Chatham-Kent farmers are facing irreversible damage to their crops after an intense storm blew through Mitchell's Bay area Friday night.
CK councillor and farmer Leon Leclair says the worst of the damage includes corn broken off the stalks, carrots without leaves, soy beans stripped down to sticks, and fields full of destroyed cucumbers and peppers.
Damaged fields near Mitchell's Bay after intense storm blew through July 7. July 8, 2017. (Photo courtesy of Leon Leclair).
Leclair says unfortunately many of the vegetables cannot be saved.
"Some fields, the farmers can walk away from it and there's no potential. Other fields, they're going to be needing some prayers, some timely rain, and some input for fertilizers and fungicide sprays," says Leclair.
Despite many farmers having crop insurance, Leclair says the damage could still end up costing them thousands of dollars.
"Some of these farmers with 1,500 acres of damage may not receive any compensation because they own more farms. The way crop insurance works is it covers 80% to 90% of your entire operation," explains Leclair.
Leclair says for example, a farmer who owns 1,000 acres of crops will not receive compensation if only 10%, or 100 acres, of those crops are damaged.
Leclair hopes some plants are able to recover for the sake of many local farmers.