Farmers in the central and northern Prairies are celebrating the same June rain that has delivered more misery to farmers in the south.
Agriculture Canada precipitation maps show that a wide band of farmland in central and northern Saskatchewan and Alberta has received 85 to 115 percent of normal rainfall since April 1 compared to in excess of 200 percent in the southeastern Prairies.
Ed Schafer, a grower from Makwa in northwest Saskatchewan, had good moisture on his farm as seeding began in early May but conditions changed by the end of 19 straight days of planting.
Read Also
Alberta researcher helps unlock the economics of farming
Lethbridge Polytechnic researcher helping agriculture producers with decision-making tools in economic feasibility
“We didn’t get any rain in that period, so as seeding progressed it got drier and drier,” he said.
“We were watching TV and seeing everybody flooding out (down south) and we were drying out up north.”
His topsoil was parched and his pasture land was “starting to go backwards,” so he welcomed the rain when it started to fall.
And did it fall. Schafer’s area of the province received between 130 and 150 mm of moisture during one week in the middle of June.
“In general, guys were happy to see the rain, but they were happy to see it done after seven days of rain,” he said.
It has been a strange planting season. Schafer’s canola crop endured 13 days of frost in May, dryness in the beginning of June and now excess moisture.
“I’ve got drowned out spots in my frozen, droughted-out canola,” he said with a laugh.
Clint Jurke, a western Saskatchewan agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada, said some areas received too much of a good thing, but the rain was desperately needed in an area north of Highway 7.
“There were concerns that some of the canola seed wasn’t germinating because it was stranded in the dry upper layers of the soil. Emergence wasn’t looking all that great,” he said.
The rain made a big difference to canola crops on the western Prairies based on field scouting that Jurke conducted last week.
“I’ve been out the past few days looking at canola fields that weren’t looking so good before. They’ve really perked up.”
The crop is far from uniform; there are almost two flushes of canola. As well, sclerotinia has become a major disease threat. It is also challenging to get into the fields to apply herbicides and fungicides.
However, the outlook for canola and other crops is vastly improved in Jurke’s region.
“I hate to say it, because I don’t want to jinx it, but it’s almost like we’ve got some ideal conditions here,” he said.
Jurke said it’s the same story for farmers in eastern Alberta. Growers north of a horizontal line running from Red Deer to the Saskatchewan border needed rain, and they got it.
“They’re in very good shape as well. This has certainly helped things out.”
Todd Hames is one of those farmers. The wheat and canola grower from Marwayne, Alta., said his fields dried out quickly shortly after seeding because of persistent winds.
“Some of the crops that were seeded shallow did have patchy germination because of the dry-down,” he said.
It was nothing like the drought of 2007, but the farm was definitely lacking surface moisture.
The situation was rectified by a 10-day stretch of rain that began in the second full week of June, during which his farm received between 100 and 150 mm of moisture.
“(The rains) were very welcomed. The grasslands and the crops were starting to be dry on top,” said Hames.
He joked that he “ordered too much” because as of late last week the water was pooling in his fields and he couldn’t get out to spray his crops.
“We’ve been dried out enough that generally people are more willing to work with excess moisture than they are with drought,” said Hames.
“Compared to what we see in other parts of the country, we can’t complain.”
