Continued rainfall has been a thorn in the side of farmers as many are still trying to wrap up spring seeding.
Marc Hutlet from Marc Hutlet Seeds Inc. in Dufresne says there is a lot of variability depending on where and when rain has fallen.
“Towards the Niverville, Tourond area there's a pretty high percentage complete, but then you just go north of the Number 1 from where we are in Dufresne and there's still a lot of work to do there, 40 per cent, if not more in some cases. East also, from Friedensfeld east into La Broquerie, it's been awfully wet there.”
Hutlet says there is also a disparity in what crops have been planted.
“The percentage of corn is pretty close to complete, percentage soybeans there's still a long way to go and a lot of it you might flip to canola yet because of the calendar.”
Fortunately, Hutlet notes most farmers have been able to get their cereals in the ground. He adds a lot of canola still needs to go in and some farmers are willing to plant silage corn into mid-June, but that would be too late for grain corn.
Ideally, many farmers would have liked to be finished seeding weeks ago.
As his business is all about seed, Hutlet says it has been an interesting spring for him as well.
“It started off fairly well, but here in the last couple weeks we really haven't done much and yet you're always positioning yourself to be ready in case things do start. I think that's the biggest drawback, is trying to be in a position where if a guy calls, you're ready, but you never know when that is, especially when you get prolonged delays.”
Looking ahead to the weekend, Hutlet says the forecast looks encouraging.
“Hopefully we can get a few things done here on the weekend and put more of a positive spin for some guys. It's very tough, you make these plans and then maybe you're on the third change and you still haven't got the field seeded.”
Hutlet adds, “They know what's got to get done and hopefully we get a chance to do it this weekend.”
Sun, Jun 30, 3:00 PM
Agriculture, Full-time
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