Some farmers in southwestern Ontario are finding reasons to celebrate as a wave of intense heat settles over the area, seeing it as a much-needed change following an unpredictable start to the growing season.
Last Thursday, a severe thunderstorm swept through, bringing heavy rain, strong winds, and hail.
A tornado near Glencoe, Ont., marked the fourth confirmed tornado in the region since early May, with previous incidents occurring near Lucan, south London, and near Melbourne.
Several farmers shared that these extreme weather events have made it difficult to grow and maintain their crops.
“It was our first time having hail. It was very different and it caused damage on our bushes and our fruits,” said Hope Parks of Parks Blueberries in Bothwell, Ont.
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Plenty of hail touched down at Parks Blueberries on June 25, 2026, breaking branches off bushes and damaging already-ripe berries. (Submitted by Hope Parks)
Parks mentioned that her farm had already been struggling to produce blueberries after a long and cold winter, and that large pieces of hail ruined berries that had successfully ripened.
“We estimated on the bushes we might have lost between a pound to three pounds,” she said, adding that she anticipates Parks Blueberries will see about a 40 percent drop in its blueberry yield compared to past years.
In Thamesville, Ont., Adrian Jacques from Sunshine Farms said the recent storm also affected his cucumber and asparagus crops.
“It came in very quickly and pretty ferociously. We got a little bit of hail which damaged our cucumber crop a little bit but I think we’ll be able to come out of it,” Jacques said.
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Adrian Jacques is a farmer with Sunshine Farms in Thamesville, Ont. (Submitted by Sunshine Farms)
Nobody expected this many storms when they were planning for the growing season.
“It’s very difficult to foresee conditions for a season,” Jacques noted. “Every time you plan on weather conditions being one way it always shows up differently. If we had a nice little crystal ball that would be great.”
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Roy Phillips’s family has owned Philips Family Farm in London, Ont., since 1910. He says he’s welcoming a week of hot temperatures in the area. (Isha Bhargava/CBC)
Praise went out for warmer days when Phillips first planted corn crops back in early May; he noted how cold weather caused delays making them late coming up with yellowish leaves. Only after some hot weather hit briefly in June did they start turning green again.
“We planted some pumpkins right then those pumpkins have come along quite nicely. A week later we planted some more on different land but it cooled down again really slowing their germination process down; those pumpkins are struggling right now,” he added.
“The heat we’re getting right now should help them.”
Meanwhile , Parks explained that her blueberries need both wet and dry conditions for optimal growth.![]()
Dark clouds loom over Sunshine Farms on June 25 , 2026. Hail damaged some of the farms cucumber crops later that evening. ( Submitted by Sunshine Farms )
“Heat is good for blueberries as long as you have rain , ” she stated.
That same view is held by farmer Matt Roberts from Adelaide Farms located in Arva , Ont.
“We’re farmers. We always complain about the weather because we can’t control it , ” he remarked. “We’re never happy. We’re never complacent with what we get.”
How Will Consumers Be Affected ?
Roberts indicated that extreme weather has affected vegetable sizes such as peppers and potatoes.
“When plants just aren’t big enough to support developing peppers they won’t produce as much or may not grow large at all , ” he explained.
