A heavy rain in late May has many farmers in western Manitoba wondering if they will get a crop in the ground this spring.
More than 110 millimetres of rain fell in Souris from May 27 to June 1, 92 mm in Brandon and 77 mm in Ste. Rose du Lac.
The rain drenched fields that were already wet, said Glen Franklin, a Keystone Agricultural Producers director who farms near Deloraine.
“I do know of some (producers) who have not turned a wheel (this spring),” said Franklin.
“(Others) may have sowed 30 or 50 acres but that may be all they get in, out of 1,500 to 2,000 acres. That is fairly common.”
He said water covers entire sections of land near Deloraine, while farmers are seeding in other fields wherever possible, working around potholes and other low points.
Farmers in southwestern Manitoba were already well behind producers in other parts of the province before the rain fell, with only 30 percent of wheat planted by May 31.
The late May rain also hammered farmland in the Dauphin area, said Jim Heshka, a crop production adviser with Manitoba Agriculture.
The rainfall was especially troublesome from Dauphin southeast to McCreary, where 30 centimetres of snow had fallen In late April. Fields were almost dry before 50 to 80 mm of rain re-soaked the cropland.
“There’s a fairly significant number of acres at high risk of not making the (crop) insurance deadlines,” Heshka said.
Cattle producers are also shaking their heads this spring, Franklin said.
“Guys cannot get their cattle to pasture. Either the roads are out or the pasture is partially or completely under water.”
