INGLIS, Man. – A chill wind was blowing from the north, a sign of winter’s stubborn approach.
James Bulbuck, perched on the seat of his self-propelled swather, endured the brisk weather by wearing a winter parka and leather gloves. The forecast was for either rain or snow.
Bulbuck was trying to get a field of wheat swathed Sept. 18 under a sky of threatening grey clouds. But his efforts were stalled by a drizzle that quickly became rain.
“It’s not a good year,” said Bulbuck, before parking his swather and heading for home.
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“This is my last field to swath, but I haven’t combined anything yet.”
Last year he was done harvesting Sept. 10. This year he figures he’ll be lucky to wind up his harvest in early October.
A glut of spring rain kept him off his fields until May 25. Scattered showers now are wreaking havoc with his harvest.
“What can you do?” he asked, throwing his hands up in frustration. “Some years you get too much rain. Some years you don’t get enough.”
Farther south, Clayton Thompson was wondering how his oat crop will turn out. Planted on June 19, the crop was still green last weekend. A frost had hit earlier in the week.
Thompson farms with his brother and father near Russell, Man. They had not started combining as of Sept. 18, but Thompson said the grey hairs on his head were not because of any farm worries.
“If you took farming seriously, you’d go crazy,” he said.
Near Alexander, Man., Clare McTaggart was into his fourth day of harvest.
He was hoping to be done combining in another two weeks. Last year he was done by Sept. 3.
“It’s been a bad year all around,” he said, while driving a self-propelled combine through a crop of canola.
His seeding also was delayed by rains this spring. And with grain prices in the cellar, there is little cause for optimism as the crop comes off.
But as he watched the canola swath being lapped up by the combine header, McTaggart said he will not be among those opting out of farming this year.
For him, farming offers a way of life that he’s not willing to give up.
“It’s been a great life,” he said. “If I had it to do over again, I’d do the same thing.”
