Cool, wet weather further delayed seeding and crop development across the Prairies last week.
“It has been an interesting and challenging spring to say the least,” said Robert McLean, who farms near Manitou, Man.
His land was waterlogged heading into winter, and this spring is the wettest he has ever seen it.
“We’ve had one day in the field and that’s it. The last three years previous we were done seeding by (the May long) weekend.”
Circumstances didn’t improve when another 25 millimetres of rain fell last week. His farm is wet in places where it has never before been wet.
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“I took the front wheel assist tractor to try and find dry fields because I didn’t think the four wheeler would get through some of it,” said McLean.
The storm system that moved across Manitoba’s Red River Valley and Interlake region delivered 15 to 30 mm of rain the night of May 12 followed by another 20 to 40 mm on May 13.
The same week, portions of all three prairie provinces received a late-spring dump of snow. Record low temperatures for many communities accompanied the white stuff, with the mercury dipping into the double digits in places like Indian Head, Sask., and Cardston, Alta.
McLean is nervous his land won’t dry up and warm up in time to seed a crop this year.
“It’s only the 15th but we can’t afford to have this cool, damp weather continue because we’re losing yield every day now,” he said.
Greg Marshall, president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, said the cool weather is delaying seeding in his province.
“The moisture would be more welcome later, post-seeding. What we need now is some warmth to generate some growth of the winter annuals and get germinations of the seeds.”
Saskatchewan Agriculture estimated farmers had planted 23 percent of the crop as of May 11.
That is on par with the five-year average, but that was before the cold weather arrived on May 12.
Marshall said he hasn’t heard reports of any crop damage resulting from the early frost but the lack of warm weather is hurting the cattle guys.
“Pasture is a major concern all over the province because it’s time to put the cattle out onto grass and the grass isn’t growing,” he said. “That is causing serious grief.”
McLean has first-hand experience with that frustration.
“I just bought a load of hay today because we ran out. I’ve never fed hay the May long weekend. We usually have the cattle out on pasture,” he said.
“We’re trying to let the cattle out of the corrals because the corrals are so muddy but it’s so wet they’re actually punching up the pasture pretty good.”
Andrew Peden, a producer from Minburn, Alta., worries that his peas, which were just emerging, might have been damaged by the frost.
Seeding hasn’t been delayed in his area but the cool weather wreaked havoc with pre-seed burnoff because there were no weeds to burn off.
“Everything is just really slow growing. Wild oats are still in the single leaf and lots of them are just coming now. Everything is just late,” he said.
Peden said growers need timely rains and a general warming trend but the forecast as of May 15 called for more snowfall in his area in the coming week.
