MANOR, Sask. – Claude Poirier was making more turns than a mouse in a maze last week.
The Saskatchewan farmer was guiding a spray coupe through a field dotted with potholes and saturated with water. The high-clearance sprayer kicked up mud each time it passed through a low-lying area.
Heavy rains have set seeding back three weeks in the Manor area, where Poirier farms with his brother. The Poiriers had 400 acres seeded as of last Friday. That left them with another 2,600 acres to plant.
“If the weather holds out, we should be all right,” said Poirier, optimistic despite the tight deadline. “As the days get hotter, you wouldn’t believe the difference it makes.”
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In the nearby community of Redvers, Sask., Nettie Godenir was seated with her grandson at a family restaurant. Godenir was pensive, worried about her family’s struggle to get a crop sown. They have only 500 acres in the ground with another 6,000 acres to go.
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The scenario worsened over the weekend when the Redvers area was doused with up to 50 millimetres of rain.
“I doubt if we’ll get the crop in,” said George Godenir, when interviewed Monday. “If we get another rain, it’s going to delay it so badly.”
He thinks the provincial and federal agriculture ministers should visit the region to get a first-hand look at what farmers are coping with this spring. Many of the farmers in his area are still struggling to pay seed, chemical and fertilizer bills from last year.
“We’ve got a lot of farmers now with their backs against the wall and there’s no way to turn.”
The Saskatchewan farmer also believes the governments should get aid money into the pockets of producers as quickly as possible. He’s among those disenchanted with the Agricultural Income Disaster Assistance program. He’s also disappointed with Ottawa’s spending priorities.
“They’ve got millions of dollars to fight a war (in Kosovo) but they have no money to pay the people who are feeding them.
“We’re not asking for no big handout. We’re just asking for something to survive on.”
Across the border in Manitoba, Randall Farough seemed upbeat last Friday while pouring Roundup into a spray tank. He had half his seeding done, but said that 10 percent of his land will be too wet to work this year. Last weekend’s weather worsened that scenario.
“If we get another three inches of rain now, I don’t know what we’ll do,” Farough said. “There are a lot of guys that are just getting started.”
The plight of farmers was a common topic last week at coffee shops and restaurants. At the Chicken Chef in Melita, Man., a farmer spoke candidly with a friend about the dire straits the wet weather is causing.
The farmer expected to have his seeding done last Saturday, an enviable position considering the delays. But his good fortune was limited. Much of his crop was seeded before the rains, and he believes that up to a third of it may be drowned.
Like Godenir, he thinks the governments need to ante up some cash.
“Obviously they have to come up with some kind of assistance,” he said. “Otherwise, they can say goodbye to a good chunk of this province.”
The conversation then turned briefly to the question of who would be nominated to represent the provincial Tories in the local riding. Soon after, the farmer slid out of his chair, paid the cashier and strode out the door.
