Drought in agriculture

Please see the Quick guide to drought resources (PDF, 244.4KB), which provides information and guidance to help producers prepare for, and manage drought. 

Key drought management tips (PDF, 391KB)  assists irrigated crop producers to effectively plan and manage during drought conditions.  Learn how to make the most efficient use of limited irrigation supplies by planning how you manage during drought conditions.

Managing forage crops effectively during drought conditions requires specific strategies to optimize water use and maintain crop yields. Below are key resources for irrigation and forage management:

• Forage crops and irrigation management (PDF, 386KB): Learn key points on forage crops and effective water use
• Alternate forage crops when irrigation water is limited (PDF, 580KB): When irrigation water is limited due to drought conditions, producers may need to change their cropping program to get the highest yields possible from limited water
• Irrigated alfalfa management under drought conditions (PDF, 391KB): The right management of limited water supplies can mitigate negative impacts of drought on alfalfa yield and quality
• Managing irrigated forage crops during drought (PDF, 437KB): Why plan for drought if you irrigate? Unfortunately, drought can affect irrigated crop production, although with less frequency and impact than dryland production
• Pasture and hay rejuvenation options (PDF, 234KB): Outlines steps to maximize the potential for successful rejuvenation of forage and pasture following drought conditions

Prolonged drought can place a strain on the water resources available to producers and may leave livestock with poor quality water, resulting in lower weight gains, sickness, and leading to herd reduction or movement.

• Drought resources for livestock producers (PDF, 99 KB)
• Water quality in livestock (PDF, 152 KB)

The B.C. livestock watering handbook provides livestock watering information for planning and constructing both summer and winter watering systems.

See the Water storage dropdown below for additional resources to help guide agricultural producers in the proper construction and maintenance of dugouts and other water storage options.

Drought resources for berry producers (PDF, 94KB) is a factsheet that provides resources that may assist berry producers to make drought-related decisions.

The primary impact of drought on a crop is a reduction in yield. Therefore, if drought is anticipated, you should plan your fertilizer program accordingly.  View Drought impacts on soil fertility (PDF, 249KB)

Learn about tillage practices and crop residue management and how these affect the way water moves into and off of the soil: Tillage and residue management and their effect on soil moisture (PDF, 279KB)

When irrigation water is limited due to drought, a decision needs to be made to irrigate all acres with reduced water, or part of the acreage with the full water required, leaving some acres as dryland. Read Irrigation decisions with limited water (PDF, 358KB) for more information when making these decisions.

More irrigation resources can be found on our Irrigation and Farm water supply, storage and conservation pages.

Storing water during wetter times of the year is a useful drought preparedness strategy. British Columbia farm water dugouts (PDF, 3.1MB) and Guidance on farm water storage (PDF, 1.3MB) offer helpful information to guide you through these topics.

Water storage is often a feasible option even in places where accessing a water licence for use during the growing season may be difficult. It is important to note  that most dugouts require a water licence under the Water Sustainability Act, with some exceptions. Storing water typically occurs when water resources are more readily available, such as during freshet.

Stay informed about drought and drought conditions across the province. Visit the Drought information webpage for general information about drought and to learn more about temporary protection orders.

The B.C. Drought Information Portal is a key provincial resource for up-to-date drought information, offering a provincial drought map of current drought levels and resources to help the public understand provincial drought conditions and regulatory actions.

The B.C. Agriculture Water Calculator helps agriculture water users in British Columbia estimate the annual irrigation or livestock water demand for a farm. Irrigation water demand estimates are made based on the geographic location of the farm, as well as its soil type, crop type and type of irrigation. Livestock water demand estimates are made for a given number and type of animals.

The B.C. Irrigation Water Use Calculator is a water management tool that can be used to track actual irrigation water use without the need to purchase a flow measuring device. Users can enter their irrigation system run times or pump energy consumption, and the tool will calculate the actual annual irrigation water use to help track water usage and manage drought. A printable report can be generated for record keeping purposes.

Producers rely heavily on weather conditions to be able to make decisions for their farm every day.  To help make these decisions, producers can access weather data from the Farmwest website, which collects data from over 200 weather stations in B.C., from provincial, federal, municipal, and private agricultural networks.

The data collected from weather stations (such as temperature, precipitation, and relative humidity) are fed into the Farmwest Evapotranspiration (ET) calculator to calculate ET rates in the selected location. ET is the moisture lost from soil and plant surfaces through evaporation and from plant through transpiration based on weather conditions. The water lost is replenished by rainfall and/or irrigation.

The Agricultural Irrigation Scheduling Calculator is an essential tool for drought preparedness. Using near real-time weather data from Farmwest and five-day forecasts from Environment and Climate Change Canada, it recommends irrigation schedules tailored to a specific farm. By inputting details about their crops, soil, and irrigation system, and selecting their nearest weather station, producers receive a customized irrigation schedule for the next five days. This helps producers optimize water use, conserve resources, and improve crop and soil health. 

See the Agriculture Irrigation Scheduling Calculator (PDF, 1.5 MB) factsheet for more information and the Irrigation Industry Association of British Columbia (IIABC) website for user guides.

The Agriculture Water Demand Model was developed to provide current and future agriculture water demand estimates for use by water resource planners and decision makers.

The intent of the model was to help fulfil the province’s commitment under the Living Water Smart water plan to reserve water for agricultural lands. Existing reports are available at the Agriculture Water Demand Model webpage.

The model calculates water use on a property-by-property basis and adds the calculated water for each together to obtain a total for the entire basin or sub-basin. Crop, irrigation system type, soils and climate data are used to calculate the water demand.

“Farm Water Fix” is a 12 part video series that provides practical, on-farm solutions to address water management challenges in agriculture. Developed in partnership with the Kootenay Boundary Farm Advisors through the Climate Change Adaptation Program, these videos follow irrigation designers Andrew Bennett and Bruce Naka around farms in the Kootenay and Boundary regions of British Columbia, Canada in 2020 and 2021. The videos cover:

• Discussion of some of the major issues facing B.C. farms, especially as climate change increases water demand and diminishes supply
• Review of B.C.’s main irrigation resources and tools
• Clear explanations of main irrigation concepts to help farms tune-up their irrigation systems and adjust schedules depending on weather and soil moisture to get crops the right amount of water at the right time

Watch the series (YouTube) to gain valuable insights and tips for optimizing water use on your farm.

The Irrigate Better video series is a 4-part series of webinars produced in 2021, in which irrigation designers Andrew Bennett and Bruce Naka provide a comprehensive guide to irrigation, including system components and pipe design, irrigation delivery equipment and scheduling. Developed in partnership with the Kootenay Boundary Farm Advisors through the Climate Change Adaptation Program, this series equips farmers with the knowledge to enhance irrigation efficiency and crop production.

Learn about:

• Ideal pressure
• Flow, and water quality
• Design principles for effective pipe layout
• Comparisons of different irrigation methods
• Techniques for optimizing water use through scheduling and monitoring

The program supports farmers and ranchers experiencing drought and feed shortages by matching producers to available feed supplies.  For more information, please contact the BC Cattlemen’s Association.

Provides cost-share funding for water infrastructure investments to producers, conservation groups, water purveyors, and Indigenous communities. For more information, please contact the Investment Agriculture Foundation.

AgriStability is a continuous program that provides assistance against severe drops in income margin of greater than 30 percent, based on individual farm’s income and expenses in previous years, and considers losses to stored crop, nursery plants and livestock in assessments.

Claims process:

• Impacted farmers that are enrolled in AgriStability, must contact their regional office or phone 1-877-343-2767 to open a claim
• Advance (interim) payments often possible within a few weeks of application

Supports producers to implement practices, identified through an environmental farm plan, to increase agricultural sustainability, address climate change and contribute to a cleaner environment. Please contact the Investment Agriculture Foundation.

The Livestock Tax Deferral provision allows farmers that carry on a farming business in a prescribed area who sell all or part of their breeding herd due to drought, excess moisture or flooding to defer a portion of sale proceeds to the following year. Please contact Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Production insurance is an affordable insurance program that supports agricultural producers to manage the risk of crop losses caused by weather perils such as hail, frost, excessive rain, fire, flooding, drought, and wildlife. In B.C., production insurance is offered for berries, grain, forage, grapes, tree fruit, vegetables and flower bulbs. 

Claims process:

• Impacted farmers that hold a production insurance policy, must contact their regional production insurance office or phone 1-888-332-3352 to open a claim
• Next, an insurance adjustor will inspect the crop to determine the loss
• It is important to not put the crop to another use (such as grazing, tilling under, removing, etc.) until an adjustor has visited the farm operation