Like many of the farmers who belong to Keystone Agricultural Producers, president David Rolfe had to sit back and watch his sodden cropland get wetter May 29-31.
“There’s water all over the place,” said southwestern Manitoba farmer Rolfe, whose weekend seeding was ended when the rain started falling.
“The creeks are even running again, which tells you how wet it is.”
His area last year was in near-drought conditions before heavy snows and regular spring rains reversed the situation.
“It’s from one extreme to the other,” said Rolfe.
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The wetness in Manitoba is so widespread that the province’s crop insurance program is extending seeding deadlines by five days, agriculture minister Rosann Wowchuk announced May 31.
Crops that had May 30 deadlines will still have full coverage if seeded by the end of June 4, with the extended period running until June 9.
The final date of June 20 will not be extended because insured land that cannot be seeded by then is eligible for a $50 per acre excess moisture payout, Wowchuk said. The weekend rain fell steadily but not heavily, allowing much of the moisture to soak in.
Manitoba’s water stewardship department predicted that only the Roseau River is likely to flood.
Between 40 and 70 millimetres of rain fell on most of Manitoba’s farmland.
