Ted Tkachyk, who farms near Elm Creek, Man., probably isn’t the first farmer to seed a crop in Manitoba this year. However, Tkachyk can claim he is one of the first in 2012 because he was planting spring wheat on his farm April 2.
While it is an early start, April 2 doesn’t represent a record on his farm.
“We’ve (started) in March, three or four times in my career,” said Tkachyk, reeve for the Rural Municipality of Grey.
Aside from Tkachyk, a few other producers in central Manitoba and the Red River Valley, around Portage la Prairie, Lowe Farm and Elm Creek, have also begun seeding, said Pam de Rocquigny, Manitoba Agriculture feed grains specialist.
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Most of those farmers are seeding spring wheat, de Rocquigny said, but she did hear of one producer who was planting canola.
In a normal year, Tkachyk likes to start seeding in the middle of April. But since he has to seed 5,000 acres, with only one cultivator, the earlier he starts the better.
“There’s a fair amount of moisture. It’s quite tacky, but it’s going not too bad,” he said, describing the seeding conditions.
Most of the snow on Manitoba fields was gone by the third week of March as record breaking temperatures of above 20 C melted the remaining snow and ice.
Chuck Fossay, who farms east of Elm Creek, near Starbuck, Man., said it might be dry enough to seed but he’s going to hold off seeding canola and soybeans until
