ST.-ISIDORE-DE-BELLEVUE, Sask. – It was starting out as another bad year for crops in northeastern Saskatchewan.
Successive dry years, limited spring moisture and winter snow cover this year, combined with a recent invasion of grasshoppers, meant reseeding and spraying on Ben Gaudet’s mixed farm at St.-Isidore-de-Bellevue.
But with 25 millimetres of rain last weekend in one of the driest regions in the province and more precipitation forecast this week, there is renewed hope for the 2003 crop.
Last week, Gaudet was able to bale his first-cut hay within a day due to the hot windy conditions. The hay yielded about half of normal and was cut about a week ahead of his normal schedule, he said.
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Young grasshoppers were feasting on his pinto beans and germination looked patchy in one quarter of barley where 2002 forest fires had scorched the field’s trash cover.
Gaudet credited good moisture at seeding with getting the crop this far. The barley, which should stand knee high by this time, was shorter than a ballpoint pen.
“We need six inches of rain,” Gaudet said June 19, noting shallow wells were low and water already had to be hauled for livestock.
Last fall, he combined only 126 bushels from his 2,200 acres, all of it bound for the feed bin. This spring, he has already sprayed some fields as many as three times for grasshoppers and reseeded others.
Tom Boyle, crops and soils specialist for Saskatchewan Agriculture, reported good subsoil and dry topsoil conditions in the region last week.
But after a weekend that saw temperatures drop 15 degrees and as much as 38 mm of rain delivered to some areas including Duck Lake, he said the farmers have now earned a one week reprieve.
Light rain was reported in the district June 23 and more rain was forecast for the week ahead.
“There were some very dry areas that got a nice rain out of it,” Boyle said, citing the districts of Domremy and Batoche. The rain will also help keep bugs at bay.
“Bugs don’t go away but their feeding presence on crops is reduced,” Boyle said.
Generally the zone is in better shape than last year, but dry areas have been hit hard by grasshoppers, flea beetles and cutworms. Spring showers have been spotty.
Gus Gaudet of Wendland Ag Services at Domremy reported much spraying for grasshoppers and bone dry conditions in the area last week.
“Another week, we wouldn’t have had a crop,” he said.
Rain was keeping farmers off the land June 23, he said, noting a dozen had already dropped by his office for coffee that morning.
“They’re not complaining, for once, and all have smiles on their faces,” he said. “There’s a lot of optimism.”
