THE DROUGHT OF 2025
Monday, October 22, 2025. By Grace Vanderzande
The forecast is for a week of rain. I cannot and will not believe it till I can run outside and feel it on my face. We have been in this situation before, during those summers of sun and fun.
Sun and fun can mean a very different thing here on the farm then it does for others.
“Sun and Fun” is what we all need and desire when the month of May comes around, after a winter of cold, dreary, and snowy fun. Then the Spring tends to keep us inside till the farmers' planting season comes around. Then we watched the planted crops thrive, knowing it is the way it has always been.
Summer has always been the time for fun in the sun. School is out, and there is so much to experience. Canadians love their summers. I love our summers. Farmers love their summers too. They harvest their hay crops and hope it will not rain till they finish baling.
Rain has been absent since the spring, possibly before, depending on where you live. On our farm, the rain skirted around us, and I found that I was starting to get jealous when I saw things posted on social media with all the photos of heavy and long-lasting rains that hit other areas. Then jealousy turned into concern, and finally, as I write this, into fearfulness. Fear for those who rely on the land for a living and feed the world around us. Those who rely on wells for the survival of themselves and their animals. Fear, for those who planted those crops that now sit atop a dry, deep creviced earth that has lost its will. Cornstalks, which I, as a short person, can look over. Pasture fields that have been gone for a long time, and farmers are feeding the hay that they harvested early on.
Things look grim to many farmers, but there is hope.
We let our garden go as it took water we needed to water our cattle. We use the laundromat like so many others who rely on wells. We started getting our own drinking water elsewhere. Sometimes, city or town life slips into my dreams when I sleep. A tap with endless water a dream for many now.
It is not endless, it is just there. Nothing is endless, and we should all realize that. Take a drive outside your town or city and see all the trucks and trailers loaded with those big plastic water containers. That is not for luxury, it is for life. It is for a life that someone had always dreamed of having.
Farmers are under a lot of stress and strain these days. I believe that they are very good at masking their worries and the pressure they are under. They have been here many times. This time seems so much more. We have farmed for almost fifty years on our farm and have not seen it this bad in forty years. Decisions had to be made back then that have never left my heart. My farmer is outside welding a tank to find water somewhere to keep our cows safe and happy. They drink a lot of water. We will not give up.
The sunflowers in the garden grow tall. We have not watered them. They bring a hope and a smile to my face. They are like a beacon in the dark for me right now. This time soon will pass. It always does. Hold on, hold on.
So, if you need a beacon, find the little things that are thriving to make you believe it will get better. The rains in the forecast give me hope.
I was going to send this in for my column, but most will never see it, possibly because it is not something most will want to hear. I am fine with that. I wish I did not have to write it to get it out of my head.
Everyone has something they are carrying as they walk around with a smile on their face.
If you see me dancing outside in the rain every day, for a week or more, you will see a genuine smile.
Grace Vanderzande