Brooks, AB (Rural Roots Canada) – A powerful storm that swept through the Brooks, Alberta, area on Wednesday afternoon has left farmers reeling, as hail and high winds caused extensive damage to crops and farmyards.

Brad Niznik, who farms in Antelope Creek west of Brooks, says the storm came on fast.

“I was moving some pallets in a building and all of a sudden my nieces and sister-in-law were trying to get their vehicles into a building we just got the shop door closed and hunkered down in a steel quonset and yeah, I watched it pound away,” Niznik recalls.

Inside the quonset, the sound was deafening.

“I had earplugs in because I was operating the bobcat, and I had to cover my ears; it got so loud in that steel Quonset.”

The hail reached golf-ball size; however, Niznik says the wind did a lot of the damage.

“At our place, it looks like the wheat is going to be 100 per cent write off. We’ve got some cornfields that will likely be 100 per cent write 0ff too,” he explains.

READ MORE: Baseball-Sized Hail Batters Pulse Crops Across the Prairies

Across the farm’s fields of corn, three are likely headed for salvage, while two may still be able to stand longer. “We were just out with Gordon Frank from Pioneer this morning assessing the damage, and you know we’re just going to have to watch it very closely over the next two weeks,” Niznik says.

However, it’s not as bad as what their neighbours to the north experienced.

“About 10 miles north, our cousins have their cornfields cut off below their knees. That’s where the worst damage was.”

The timing of the storm makes the damage even more challenging to bear, hitting just as farmers prepare for harvest.
“We can just see how fortunate we are that we have some salvage, because if you were going to go find feed for 1,000 cows now, it would be unbelievably devastating.”

“North of us, they’re looking at trying to put up all the winter feed, and that’s absolutely gone, pounded into the ground right now. They were just trying to get through a challenging haying season.”

He adds they actually have round bales that got blown about a quarter mile away through a ditch across two fences and a road allowance.

“You just gotta stay mentally strong and pick up the pieces,” he says.

Pictures of crumpled transmission towers and hail-covered ground are all over social media from the storm.