Extensive flooding this spring in Manitoba’s Red River Valley didn’t stop some farmers in the region from starting to seed last week.
Lorne Hamblin, who usually grows more than 3,000 acres of canola, soybeans and cereals, said producers east of the Red River near Morris began seeding April 29.
“The guys were seeding on Friday. Not our land, but our neighbours were seeding,” he said. “I’m sure over the Altona and Winkler way (west of the river), there’s probably some guys (that have seeded).”
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Hamblin said the Red River Valley south of Winnipeg dodged the main blows of a spring storm that dumped 25 to 50 centimetres of snow on parts of western Manitoba April 30 and May 1.
It means he should start seeding by May 7 on land that is outside of the Red River’s primary flooding zone.
“If we don’t get any rain (this week), we’ll be going by this weekend,” he said.
Unfortunately, Hamblin also has 1,700 acres of cropland close to the Red River, which will remain under water for weeks.
Flood forecasters with Manitoba Water Stewardship announced May 1 that the Red River would have a “more prolonged crest and slower recession but not an increase in peak water levels,” because of the blizzard.
The Red crested south of Winnipeg May 2 at levels slightly lower than 2009, the second biggest flood in terms of water volume in the last century.
However, the 2011 crest arrived more than two weeks later than the 2009 flood.
