Farm groups in Saskatchewan and Manitoba think there will be more unseeded acres than the Canadian Wheat Board is forecasting.
The board released an estimate June 14 of 6.5 million unplanted acres in the two provinces, down from 10 million acres last year. It said the number could be as low as six million or as high as eight million acres.
Two prairie farm organizations believe it will end up at the higher end of that scale.
“I get a sense that we’re in around that five million acres in Saskatchewan alone,” said Greg Marshall, president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan.
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Keystone Agricultural Producers president Doug Chorney agreed with Manitoba Agriculture’s estimate of three million unseeded acres in that province.
“That’s based on feedback we’re getting from various sources,” he said.
Bruce Burnett, the wheat board’s director of weather and market analysis, said continued rainfall during the last half of June will probably result in more lost acres.
“I think it increases the likelihood of us moving higher.”
He said his 6.5 million acre estimate did not include abandoned acres, which is a mounting area of concern given the recent rainfall.
However, Burnett still believes the final number will be well below last year’s 10 million lost acres.
“I don’t think it can be up at last year’s levels just because last year did affect a larger area of the Prairies.”
APAS is lobbying the federal and provincial governments to announce appropriate disaster relief for producers.
“We’re asking for AgriRecovery to be used again this year to help out those farmers who have been unable to seed,” Marshall said.
“People are desperate. They are feeling very helpless.”
APAS hasn’t announced what it will ask for a per acre payment, but Chorney said KAP’s number is higher than last year’s $30 per acre.
“Guys are saying we need at least $50 an acre, so that’s what we’ve been asking from government.”
KAP believes farmers are in worse shape this year because more growers didn’t plant a crop, which means they have no crop insurance protection.
“It’s looking pretty scary here for a lot of guys,” said Chorney.
Marshall worries about the mental health of farmers in southeastern Saskatchewan who watched what little seed they managed to plant wash away in late-June rain.
“It’s extremely stressful, obviously, and that’s what concerns me the most right now. That stress plays out in many different ways. Everybody has to remain safe.”
George Hanna, who runs a custom seeding, spraying and harvesting business near Milden, Sask., said farmers aren’t the only ones hurting.
“This rain has been an absolute disaster for the custom business,” he said.
The largest part of his customer base is south of Regina.
“We’re probably doing 40 percent of our acres,” he said. “If we don’t get it seeded now, then we lose out on the spraying and we lose out on the custom combining, too.”
