THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2011
VOL. 89 | NO. 20 | $3.75
It’s wild out there | PRODUCERS FEEL PRESSURE P14
SERVING WESTERN CANADIAN FARM FAMILIES SINCE 1923
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Spring waters are high and recent rain is not helping the situation. Many farmers in Manitoba will have to relocate cattle and feed because of this year’s flooding. For more flood coverage, see pages 4, 5, 20, 21, 79. | JEANNETTE GREAVES PHOTO MANITOBA FLOODS | CONSEQUENCES
‘It’s 100 percent sure we will lose our land’ Manitoba breaches dike | Flooded area near Portage is home to vegetable and nursery tree farms WINNIPEG BUREAU
NEWTON, Man. — Henry Dyck was helping sandbag a neighbour’s house when he uttered a thought that is common among farmers east of Portage la Prairie, Man. “It’s pretty well a given that we won’t be able to harvest,” said Dyck, who grows nursery trees for the Jeffries Brothers company. It was less than 24 hours before the dike at the Hoop and Holler Bend was breached May 14.
Potato grower Brian Smith said almost the same thing a few hours after the dike was breached and millions of litres of water began to pour into local farmland. “It’s 100 percent sure that we’ll lose our land here,” said Smith. His family also has land along the Portage Diversion of the Assiniboine River, which channels excess water north to Lake Manitoba. The diversion is as full as possible and has spilled in a number of places. It’s the reality Portage la Prairie farmers have come to accept since
the provincial government said May 9 it was considering intentionally flooding land just southeast of Portage to prevent a likely much bigger breach further downstream. The government also announced it would push the diversion to its maximum level, and then some. T h e b re a c h i n g d e a d l i n e w a s repeatedly delayed during the week as farmers and urban residents rushed to protect their properties and help neighbours who were directly in the planned flood’s path. The immediate anxiety about los-
ing houses received the lion’s share of attention after the announcement, but the economic reverberations will reach through Manitoba’s economy and shake the agriculture industry. Portage is home to some of Manitoba’s highest-value agricultural operations with large amounts of potato, vegetable and nursery tree production. It’s the kind of diversified and value-added agriculture that many rural communities dream about, and much of it is threatened by the flood waters. Hundreds of jobs are in jeopaccess=subscriber section=news,crops,none
SEED | QUALITY
Poor seed may lead to wrecks: testing firm Worst for malting barley | A quality test will allow growers to make adjustments BY SEAN PRATT SASKATOON NEWSROOM
A seed testing firm says farmers could be in for a nasty surprise when their crops emerge this spring after planting poor quality seed into cold and disease-ridden soil. “In the 20 years that we’ve been doing this, this is the worst seed supply that we’ve ever seen,” said Bruce
Carriere, owner of Discovery Seed Labs Ltd. Average germination levels on samples tested at his lab were 15 to 20 percent lower than normal. Disease levels on cereal grain were five times higher than usual. Growers who tested their seed at an accredited lab should be able to compensate for those shortcomings by applying seed treatments and
increasing seeding rates. However, that’s only 20 to 25 percent of farmers. Most growers either don’t bother testing their seed or use questionable home testing procedures. This is a bad year for that approach. “There’s going to be a lot of surprises out there this year,” said Carriere. “There’s going to be some wrecks out there like you wouldn’t believe.”
The biggest red flag is for malting barley. One of Carriere’s clients carried over a bin that had a germination level of 99 percent last spring. He was shocked to discover it had since plummeted to 45 percent. That grower at least knows what he’s dealing with. Others could be proceeding under false assumptions. access=subscriber section=news,crops,none
POOR SEED, PAGE 2
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IN THE EVENT OF A POSTAL SERVICE DISRUPTION, WE HAVE A PLAN. P 7
ardy on vegetable and tree farms, and processing and handling plants are also affected. SEE WE WILL LOSE OUR LAND, PAGE 2
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u|xhHEEJBy00001pzYv#:! MAY 19, 2011 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Box 2500, Saskatoon, SK. S7K 2C4 The Western Producer is published in Saskatoon by Western Producer Publications, which is owned by GVIC Communications Inc. Publisher, Larry Hertz Publications Mail Agreement No. 40069240; Registration No. 10676
BY ED WHITE