It’s not October, but we have much to be thankful for in the Central Plains. As we speak, approximately 60 per cent of the continental United States is enduring a drought while here in Manitoba, farmers are looking at a bumper crop.

In the U.S., temperatures are soaring as high as the low 100s F. July was the hottest month on record in the U.S. … ever. Grain prices are rising and experts are concerned about flood inflation worldwide. And while we’re not looking at a drought, we can certainly relate to the devastating effects of Mother Nature.

A little over a year ago, Manitoba was facing horrendous flood conditions. Many farmers lost what little crop they’d been able to plant, while some farmers couldn’t even get on their fields to attempt to seed. As dam breaches, diversions and a myriad of other flood events kept coming at us, many farmers were forced to call it a year and suffered huge losses. So, yes, we can relate to what U.S. farmers and their communities are facing right now.

But relating to an experience is not the same as living it. While we have been enduring a mini heatwave of our own, we are not enduring the dry, dusty conditions our neighbours to the south are experiencing. Our waterlogged fields of last year are memory while our blooming fields of this season are full of promise and will help alleviate the devastation from the previous growing season. However, we have no idea what next year will bring. So, as we count our sunflowers, alfalfa, corn, canola and grain, we should also count our lucky stars.

-- Tara Seel is a contributing columnist for Portage Daily Graphic.

tarastwobits@gmail.com