Got drought? I bet you have.
Even if your farm is in southern Manitoba and there are ducks living in the trees around your farmyard, you’ve got drought affecting your farm.
This year’s return to inconsistent moisture in the prairie weather patterns has resulted in a luck-based year.
Draw the short straw, you get to grease the combine. Dad always seemed to win that game. I have kids now. I got it down.
If you drew the short precipitation straw this year, it has been painful. Outside of Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan, it has been a drought year, punctuated by showers, timely and otherwise. Some are lucky and some are not.
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For the record, I am not.
A big ridge off the British Columbia coast has held back the decent weather systems that would normally provide the West with a couple of days of rain at least once a month.
An El Nino has showed up to compound drought issues and make those of us who have had little moisture this year fear a dry winter and a late freeze-up.
I have been asking myself, “how high can I leave the stubble for a snow catch when my durum is just 18 inches tall? Will I need to use the flex header to combine the flax?”
At The Producer, we haven’t wanted to say the “D” word too often on the front of the paper be-cause it isn’t a universal truth for our readers, at least when it comes to precipitation and yield. And it can be depressing.
While we sell into world markets, there are local prices. Drought-damaged cereal crops will come off first, and those not contracted for later delivery will hit the system early and take up any premiums, or, more likely, set the quality bar, while the price stays low.
Later, bigger crops with lower quality will fight for market and price. Those with good specialty and pulse crop yields will do well as some shippers come up short on their contracts because of drought reductions. Every bushel of canola will be worth more than planned.
Winter wheat and fall rye will likely see increased acreage because those with drought issues will have land freed up for fall seeding. Hay will be like gold, buying or selling.
Everyone feels a drought, one way or another.
