RYCROFT, Alta. – Picking the day farmers will begin seeding in the Peace River area of northern Alberta this year is like guessing how many jelly beans are in a quart sealer at the fair.
Bryan Woronuk has started his own seeding pool. Friends and family of the Rycroft farmer have chosen dates on a calendar when he will pull his seed drill into the field. The guesses range from May 2 to May 31.
Whatever the date, seeding is going to be late, said Woronuk.
More than 2 1/2 metres of snow fell in parts of the Peace River area this winter, almost double the normal snowfall from November to March.
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More than a metre of snow is still in the field. Cool, overcast weather through March and April has kept the snow with little sign of spring. Once the snow disappears it will take at least three weeks for the ground to dry.
Woronuk hasn’t made changes to his seeding plans yet but has started to make contingency plans. He has cleaned some oats and planned to clean more barley.
“We’re not worried yet, but we are concerned,” he said.
Despite the late spring, it may turn into a good crop year. The snow that is melting is slowly seeping into the unfrozen ground providing good spring soil moisture for seeding.
“If it was to turn warm and stay nice we could really end up with an excellent crop,” said Woronuk.
Leo Meyer’s best guess for the first day of seeding is May 10, even with warm, sunny days.
“The way it’s unfolding, it’s not going to be early, nor are we going to be normal.”
Meyer said he hasn’t changed seeding plans yet, but believes many farmers are contacting seed dealers to switch from long-season Argentine canola to quicker maturing Polish canola.
“To get the seed will be another question.”
The fall rye and winter wheat Meyer seeded last fall seem to have come through the winter in good condition. The slow melt and insulating snow cover benefited those crops.
“I’m very optimistic about the fall seeded crops,” said Meyer, who added any extra moisture this spring outweighs the benefits of early seeding.
“I’d choose the scenario we have now over an early spring.”
Dennis La Flamme of Falher, Alta., estimates seeding will be a good three to four weeks behind schedule in his area, but he hasn’t changed seeding plans.
“I won’t panic yet,” said La Flamme.
Ryan Kemp said the extra snow will be good in the long term for filling dugouts and recharging ground water, but it’s difficult to see the benefits through the two metre high snowbanks.
The High Prairie beekeeper said last year he unwrapped the bee boxes from their winter insulation March 25. This year it will be at least mid-April or later before there is enough heat to create pollen on the trees for the bees.
Pussywillows are the first and most important source of spring pollen until the dandelions pop out at the end of May, he said.
Kemp plans to unwrap the bee boxes from their winter cocoon when the temperature during the day hits 10 C.
He said this week he will use a bobcat or tractor to push the snow away from the yards to keep busy. A week earlier he strapped on snowshoes and hiked out to the hives to make sure the bees had enough feed and were still healthy.
So far, when he’s listened to the bee boxes through a stethoscope, the bees have seemed fine, he said.
Glenna Eastman of Brownvale has spent most of the winter carrying feed to cattle that were supposed to find their own feed in the field.
The swath and bale grazing didn’t go as planned. Each morning Eastman’s husband used a blade to scrape the snow off the swaths in the field. That lasted until mid-February when the cattle were supposed to graze on bales placed throughout the field. Deep snow and a thick sheet of ice covering it have made it too difficult for the cattle to get to the bales.
“This winter it snowed and snowed,” she said.
