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SERVING MANITOBA FARMERS SINCE 1925 | Vol. 71, No. 18 | $1.75 May 2, 2013 manitobacooperator.ca
Fast-disappearing snow bodes well for anxious farmers
Now you can do something about the weather We can’t change it, but we can understand it better
Fingers are crossed seeding won’t be delayed as much as first feared
By Allan Dawson co-operator staff/Miami
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verybody talks about the weather, but CoCoRaHS is looking for people who want to do something about it. That might be stretching it. Nobody can stop rain, snow or hail from falling, but they can report how much fell and a lot can be done with the information, says Alison Sass, local co-ordinator for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow (CoCoRaHS) Network. “What happens in a small area can have a big effect sometimes,” she said in an interview April 25. Just ask people living in Fort Collins, Colorado. On July 28, 1997 a rainstorm resulted in an “epic flood” causing more than $200 million in damage, according to a CoCoRaHS video ( h t t p : / / w w w. y o u t u b e. com/watch?v=eXHMv_2H8I&feature=youtu.be). There were only two
Miami farmer Ray Lawson’s grandfather started seeding most years in April. That didn’t happen this year but Lawson, like every other Manitoba farmer, is praying warm, dry weather from here on will make up for lost time. photo: allan dawson
See WEATHER on page 7 »
By Allan Dawson co-operator staff /miami
Publication Mail Agreement 40069240
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ay Lawson’s air seeder was still buried in snow April 22, making this one of the latest starts to spring seeding this Miamiarea farm has seen in 128 years of record-keeping. According to his grandfather David Lawson’s diaries, between 1885 and 1944 seeding began in April on Maple Grove Farm northeast of Miami 54 out 59 years. During the other five, seeding started in May twice and in March three times — March 20, 1889, March 24, 1910 and March 30, 1918 to be exact. “That strikes me as early,” Lawson says. “We start seed-
ing as often the end of April as we do the beginning of May.” No doubt there were years when Lawson’s grandfather started seeding in April but was delayed because of snow or rain. Starting early doesn’t guarantee an early finish. Crop insurance records show seeding in this part of Manitoba is earlier than most. It typically gets more heat units and has a longer frostfree period too. A late spring, which saw most of agro-Manitoba covered in deep snow until last week, has triggered lots of coffee shop talk about when seeding will finally get underway. Even if the precipitation holds off, seeding will
be delayed in some parts of Manitoba due to flooding. The frustration of this year’s delay is no doubt magnified because seeding was well advanced at this time a year ago — probably one of the earliest springs in years. As of April 30, 2012 seeding was 70 per cent completed in the Interlake, 50 per cent done in the Central Region, 40 per cent completed in the Eastern Region, 10 per cent done in the Southwest Region and less than five per cent completed in the Northwest Region, Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives (MAFRI) said in its weekly crop report. Fifty-nine per cent of last year’s red spring wheat crop was in the ground by the
“It’s possible that we could be in the field by then. I sure hope so.” Ray Lawson
fourth week of April and 68 per cent was seeded by the first week of May, according to Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation crop insurance records. Even in 2011, 50 per cent of the wheat was seeded by the third week of May, although See NO SNOW on page 6 »
WEATHER: WE’RE STILL NOT DONE WITH THAT ARCTIC AIR » PAGE16