Dry conditions putting damper on Westman crops

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This article was published 21/07/2018 (2847 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RIVERS — The dry weather plaguing the Prairies is impacting Westman farmers.

After a couple of dry years in a row now, farmer Roger Lepp is considering switching some of his practices.

Walking through his Riverdale Grain Farms wheat field near Rivers on Friday, he pointed to the poor condition of his crop.

By this time of year, he said that his crop, which currently reaches his knees, should be up to his waist.

With shorter crops a problem for many farmers at this time of year, Lepp said he’s looking at different options to mitigate the issue during future seasons.

“We’re looking at doing more fall fertilizing to help us save moisture in spring time and to ease the spring workload, which will hopefully allow us to have everything in a little bit earlier,” Lepp said.

“Farmers know that every day in May is worth a lot, so if you can get it all done a week earlier … you’re going to typically see a better yield for that.”

Lepp said he has to narrow his focus on those variables he can control, since there’s not much one can do about weather.

“It’s out of your hands, and you hope for rain if you’re needing it, but otherwise you just plant for a harvest and just continue on with operations that you know you have to get done,” he said.

He said this year they’ve seen a lot of scattered moisture, where some areas were graced by precipitation while Mother Nature mysteriously skipped over others nearby.

The dry weather and the sometimes stifling heat has also been an issue for Simon Ellis, who owns Black Creek Farm in Wawanesa.

“Some of the crops like wheat and oats, you’re starting to see the symptoms of the excess heat, and they’re starting to actually mature now, which is much too soon,” Ellis said.

“They’ve had a bit of a tough go at times here. It’s been quite dry so far this season and especially coming in from a dry year last year,” he said.

Ideally, he said that they would see an inch of rain every week, but so far this year that hasn’t been the case.

Still, both Lepp and Ellis are optimistic about outcomes for the year.

“Maybe we’ll still have good yields, but we’re definitely seeing the growth of the plants being pulled back a little bit,” Lepp said.

“I hope that we catch a couple more rains to give us those extra yields and go from there,” Ellis said.

Although some precipitation has occurred during recent days, it’s not having too great an impact, according to the provincial government’s latest crop report issued earlier this week.

“Hot and windy conditions are drying up moisture very quickly and worsening conditions in areas that did not get recent rains,” the report reads. “Crops are showing the effects of the very hot temperatures. The majority of the southwest region could use a good rain.”

The report noted that winter wheat and fall rye are in the drought stage and are beginning to turn, alongside cereal crops and early seeded barley.

Peas and canola are reportedly flowering, and corn and sunflowers are “progressing well.”

“The southwest region remains hot and very windy, which has made for favourable haying weather,” the report says. “Some dugouts and sloughs are very low and producers are looking at pumping water.”

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