With the exception of a few areas, temperatures of -5 C or colder didn’t inflict serious damage to the canola crop in southern Saskatchewan, says a provincial government rep.
Many producers and crop specialists feared that a Colorado Low and unusually cold weather over the May long weekend would have a dramatic impact on the emerging canola crop on the Prairies.
But it appears that most canola fields withstood the frost.
“It was much better than we expected,” said Shannon Friesen, regional crops specialist for Saskatchewan Agriculture in Moose Jaw.
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Friesen said the frost did injure some canola south of Moose Jaw, which was seeded relatively early this spring, and producers have reseeded in those areas.
She said cool spring weather likely prevented damage across a wider geography. A number of growers are still assessing their crop, but early reports are positive.
“For the most part, it seems like we’re pretty good because emergence has been so slow.”
Saskatchewan’s crop report, released today, echoed Friesen’s comments.
Cool weather in May has delayed crop emergence or prevented farmers from seeding in many regions of the province. As a result, the frost didn’t harm crops because germination has been sluggish and plants haven’t popped out of the ground.
Wayne Truman, who farms near Redvers, Sask., said the frosty weather had little impact in his area. Most of the canola was just emerging or producers haven’t seeded the crop yet.
As well, temperatures around Redvers only dropped to -2 C, not as cold as predicted.
“I think we were spared,” he said.
Sherri Roberts, Saskatchewan Agriculture crops specialist in Weyburn, said temperatures hit –8 C in certain locations, but frost damage was spotty in the southeast.
“We are hearing that some of the fields near Radville may need to be replanted. The canola got hit really hard,” she said. “But from what I saw (in the region) yesterday (Tuesday), I didn’t see any fields that were really, really bad.”
Besides cold temperatures, the storm also dumped rain and snow on Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Roberts said the precipitation has put a halt to seeding, but likely for only a few days.
Truman said his farm received about 37 millimetres of rain over the weekend. If the weather stays dry and sunny, he hopes to resume seeding this weekend.
robert.arnason@producer.com
