Farmers lost their bets on a slow melt this spring, as the floodwaters swallowed farms and homes around Ponteix, Sask. on the weekend.
“It looks like a big lake from the top (of the elevator),” said manager Hector Boudreau at Saskatchewan Wheat Pool’s Ponteix facility.
One local producer is feeding 70 cows from a canoe. Boudreau said the farmer tried to evacuate the cattle, but they refused to leave the manure pile they’re standing on. Many of the cows are still calving, he said.
Last week’s warm temperatures caused the heavy snowpack across much of southern Saskatchewan to melt faster than expected.
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So far flooding is confined to a few small areas, but the flood potential is huge across the southern prairies, provincial water authorities say.
Alex Banga, of Sask Water, said on Monday the water crest from Ponteix was headed for Vanguard and Gravelbourg.
That threatens not only farms but also the grain transportation network, which could be crippled by washed out rail lines.
The grain transportation system is just recovering from an abysmal winter in which farmers lost millions of dollars because of demurrage charges and delayed sales.
The railways said bad weather clogged up the system.
The massive west coast backlog has eased dramatically over the last month, with now only 23 ships waiting to load. At one time 48 ships were waiting for grain.
“We’re slowly, slowly getting it down,” said Canadian Wheat Board spokesperson Tracey Thompson.
But the railways and grain companies have also warned that extensive spring flooding could again cripple the network.
The wheat board is urging farmers to move their grain to higher ground, and offering Red River farmers emergency relief.
Farmers in the south-central Manitoba area where flooding is expected to be at least as bad as last year, can deliver up to 80 percent of their series A contracts and 60 percent of their series B, regardless of the call-up. But they may not be able to find space in an elevator.
Everything now depends on the weather. Water authorities say a slow melt would mean most of the spring melt could be cleared without great flooding.
A fast melt, however, could cause the worst flooding in decades, especially along the Red River in Manitoba.
