ARBORG, Man. – When approaching the town of Arborg, it quickly becomes apparent that something is wrong.
This time of year, wheat stubble and rows of canola swaths should be out on the land. Instead, the fields on both sides of Highway 7 south of town are full of weeds and water.
The situation is the same east of the Interlake community.
Nearly 75 percent of the cropland that surrounds Melvyn Eyolfson’s farm is littered with broadleaf weeds, volunteer canola and water.
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Eyolfson has lived on the same farmyard east of Arborg his entire life and said he’s never seen anything like it.
“We’ve been wet here since last June,” said Eyolfson, who didn’t seed any of his 1,400 acres this spring because of standing water and mud on his land.
“We haven’t dried up for 14 months now.”
Consequently, Eyolfson has no crop to harvest for the first time in his decades of farming. As he sat at his kitchen table drinking coffee, he admitted it feels weird to have time on his hands in early September.
A minor consolation is that he’s not the only one affected. North, south and east of Arborg, around Fisher Branch, Gimli and Riverton, farmers are facing the same problem – no crop to harvest and minimal income this fall.
“People put on a brave face, I guess, when I see them in public,” said Eyolfson when speculating about the mood of farmers in his region. “But there’s a lot of stress and worry.”
The wet weather began in the summer of 2008, when 156 millimetres of rain fell on Arborg in July, more than double the typical 70 mm.
Another downpour last year in early September forced farmers to buy combines with tracks or track conversion kits to harvest their crops.
This year, more than 120 mm of rain fell in June, washing away the likelihood of seeding a crop.
As a result, assuming 250,000 to 300,000 acres of cropland in the affected region and only 25 percent of that seeded in the spring, that means an estimated 187,000 to 220,000 acres of unseeded land, said Dean Stoyanowski, a farm production adviser with Manitoba Agriculture in Arborg.
Another 120 mm of rain fell on Arborg last month, adding to worries in the area.
Darvin Firman, who farms with his brother Andy north of Arborg, said the situation is worse than producers let on.
“Sure, we can go back to the lending institutions and borrow money to survive, but that’s your equity and you’re borrowing against it. It’s not falling from the heavens,” said Firman while sitting on a stool in his machine shed, swatting at mosquitoes.
“I think people are getting pretty down.”
Firman was able to seed only 25 percent of his cropland and is short 600 bales to feed his cattle over the winter.
During a brief tour southeast of Arborg, Eyolfson stopped next to one of his fields and pointed out the acres of standing water and dozens of loitering ducks.
He was able to harvest most of his wheat, canola and oats last fall but had to buy a combine with tracks to get the crop off.
He hired an aerial sprayer this summer to kill weeds on his land but has been able to cultivate only a portion of it, which means brown weeds remain standing on most of his farmland.
A stretch of sunshine and heat in early September has provided hope, but Eyolfson said a major turnaround in the weather is needed.
“We’re getting concerned about next spring. The land is so saturated and if we can’t get over it … and blacken the soil so it warms up more in the spring … then next year’s seeding is going to be in question,” he said.
“We need dry weather from now until freeze up.”
Stoyanowski said the lack of seeded acres is affecting the entire community.
“Looking at Main Street, I think some of the businesses in town are feeling a bit of a shortfall.”
Selkirk-Interlake MP James Bezan said he has toured the affected area several times and spoken with producers. He said the federal government is looking at which programs would most help producers.
Firman said crop insurance and coverage for unseeded acres have been helpful, but more is needed if producers are going to survive beyond 2010.
If next year is also difficult, Firman added, he might be forced to rethink his career as a full-time farmer.
“I’ll probably have to make some decisions in my life that I never intended to make.”
