Winter drought in New Brunswick puts farms and wells under pressure
Below-normal precipitation since January is leaving New Brunswick farms short of forage and raising fresh concern over dry wells and rural water security.
New Brunswick is entering the new farm season under unusually dry winter conditions that are already affecting livestock operations, vegetable farms and rural water systems. CBC reported that precipitation has been below seasonal levels since January, and much of the province remains in severe drought according to the Canadian Drought Monitor. For agriculture, that raises the risk that last summer’s stress will carry directly into spring.
The pressure is already visible at the farm level. Cedric MacLeod of Local Valley Beef in Long Settlement, north of Woodstock, recently reviewed his hay reserve and found he has enough feed for only a few more weeks. His operation now depends on timely rainfall to bring pasture back before the main spring grazing period. Without that recovery, costs rise and herd management becomes more precarious.
Hydrogeologist Matthew Alexander, who has been studying the lack of snow and rainfall recharge this winter, warned that a repeat of last year’s pattern could trigger major restrictions on water users. The problem is not just dry surface conditions. When too little moisture reaches the ground during winter, pasture growth, shallow soil moisture and groundwater recovery all start the season from a weaker base.
Farmers are trying to adapt, but the practical options are expensive. MacLeod said he has moved away from tilling because it strips moisture from already dry soils, and he is relying more on legumes with deeper roots to help capture limited water. Full irrigation, however, is a different scale of investment. He estimated that a deep commercial well could cost roughly a quarter million to half a million dollars, while pivot irrigation systems can also run to about half a million.
That cost barrier is echoed by Tim Livingstone of Strawberry Hill Farms near Woodstock, who grows about 50 vegetable crops as a way to spread weather risk. He said it could take a decade for a smaller operation to save enough money for major irrigation infrastructure, especially after a drought year. In other words, even when climate risk becomes clearer, the capital response is still out of reach for many producers.
The water problem extends beyond farms into rural communities. In Memramcook, Mayor Maxime Bourgeois said about 50% of residents still rely on wells. After last summer’s drought, the municipality decided to move 150 residents onto the water system, using about $4 million in federal funding and roughly $2.8 million from the province. It is also spending between $75,000 and $100,000 on a new fill station. Alexander said groundwater recovery could take months or even years, which means this winter drought is being treated not as a short-lived inconvenience but as a serious operational risk for agriculture and rural infrastructure alike.