Johnson Farms says it could be an extremely short Taber corn season after crops took a beating in a thunderstorm Tuesday night (Aug. 6).

James Johnson says it will take a few days to fully assess the damage in Barnwell, but things aren’t looking very good at this point. “We have a couple little patches that were fine, a couple plots. But the majority, unfortunately, of our main season crop was right in the area that got hit the hardest.”

He says Johnson Farms will continue to monitor how the corn reacts and determine how long crops will be down for, which could perhaps be the remainder of the season.

Corn will be for sale in Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Taber on Wednesday (Aug. 7), with Johnson noting that another shipment went to Calgary and Edmonton on Tuesday (Aug. 6). He says some incomplete orders have been cancelled due to the crop damage.

Environment Canada is reporting wind gusts up to 146 km/hr in Barnwell Tuesday night, around 113 km/hr in Champion and about 83 km/hr in Iron Springs.

Large hail was also reported, around golf ball sized in Taber and Loonie sized in Barnwell.

The Weather Office says the combination of severe winds and large hail have led to multiple reports of crop damage and damage to farm equipment and structures from Vulcan County southeast to Taber and Barnwell.