ARBORG, Man. – Other than thousands of seagulls, ducks and geese, there’s nothing moving on most fields in Manitoba’s Interlake.
In a normal year, farmers would be busy seeding, but this year many fields have a bed of crushed crop from last fall, others are deeply scarred by enormous ruts from farmers who tried to harvest and most contain big pools of water.
Late last week, a layer of ice covered the pools because it dropped down to -8 C May 14 after a two-inch rain fell the previous day.
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
The scene breaks the heart of local farmer Kyle Foster.
“None of that got touched,” said Foster about a 540-acre field of oats that is lying flat.
“It’s all going to have to be burned this spring. But it’s too wet to burn. At this point we should be looking at seeding, not burning.”
The Interlake region’s farmers were devastated by excessive moisture late last summer that prevented many from harvesting and caused others to go to extreme measures to try to get the crop off.
Foster bought a Caterpillar combine from Illinois and had it trucked to Arborg.
He also converted another combine to four-wheel drive and got special tires for his swather.
Now he thinks it might not have been worth it.
“We spent a pile of money, and when it’s all said and done, I think all we really did was save crop insurance money… and now with all these ruts we have a more expensive spring,” said Foster.
The fields that weren’t harvested look a lot better. Some have been burned off and will be OK for seeding if the weather warms and dries but the ruts will be challenging.
“We’re going to have to work it two or three times, then try to harrow it. Then I think you’re still going to see a lot of yield loss,” said Foster.
The heavy rain, combined with the plunge in temperatures below the freezing point, means water is not sinking in and drying will be slow.
The ditches are running like rivers.
Area farmers can still seed into early June, but have a lot to do before seeding.
For many, letting these fields sit idle after failing to get a harvest last year is not a good option.
“With the price of fuel and rent and interest, you’re going to lose a lot of money if you have to summerfallow,” said Foster.
