What do the farmers say in Peace River area

[fishnguy]

With a couple of threads about having “plenty of moisture”, I was wondering what the farmers in Peace River say about having no rain at all (aside from a **** or two in the last 3 months).

I was driving from Edmonton about 2 weeks ago and noticed many fields look like they have not been seeded. Than I noticed that the low spots on the fields have some green on them. Pretty much most of the fields past Valleyview looked pretty bad. I am not a farmer though.

Yesterday, I went for a drive to the bush the other way and some fields on the way look the same as those I saw two weeks ago. Many have green but look like the head of a man that is about to go bold, with green being the hair that’s left on the head.

Is it really as bad as it looks? Now with a week of rain in the forecast (I actually don’t know how much rain they are talking about and if it actually is going to happen, but assuming it will), is still possible the growth will kick in and the crop will recover or is it a lost cause at this point? Hopefully, things are not as bad as they look to an observer who is not involved in the business.

I know that in two weeks that I was gone (last week of May and first week of June) a good part of my garden had disappeared, in spite of the fact that my cousin has been watering it when he could. When I say disappeared, I mean as if it was not there. Just like the fields that appeared to not have been seeded. The difference is I can live without my radish and tomatoes though.

[Big Grey Wolf]

I also suspect many field were not planted as result of the Hawae lady being held in Vancouver and China not buying our canola. Most farmers in Peace have their bins still full of unsold canola. However also Peace has limited rain so far this year as illustrated by major forest fires in High Level/Wabasca.

[lmtada]

Since April 1, 150mm (6”), so far.

[Drewski Canuck]

The double whammy is the lack of moisture, and then the heat.

Some years ago a friend had 15 bushel an acre canola because of +35 C in June. Not even worth picking up at that point.

Alot of crops do not like + 30 C when they are young and tender and emerging.

Alot of crops whither in the heat and dry as the roots have not developed enough to get deep to what moisture that there may be in these conditions..

The problem of the Peace belt is that the day length is now in decline, so even if there was rain and a re seed, you could be stuck with alot of green crops if the fall is short and the cold and rain rolls in.

All the same, there could still be something out of it, but more likely a crop insurance claim.

Drewski

[MissFlyfishing]

Originally Posted by Drewski Canuck

The double whammy is the lack of moisture, and then the heat.

Some years ago a friend had 15 bushel an acre canola because of +35 C in June. Not even worth picking up at that point.

Alot of crops do not like + 30 C when they are young and tender and emerging.

Alot of crops whither in the heat and dry as the roots have not developed enough to get deep to what moisture that there may be in these conditions..

The problem of the Peace belt is that the day length is now in decline, so even if there was rain and a re seed, you could be stuck with alot of green crops if the fall is short and the cold and rain rolls in.

All the same, there could still be something out of it, but more likely a crop insurance claim.

Drewski

No farmer would leave 15 b/a in the field; well, no farmer in his right mind.
Reseeding anywhere on the prairies runs the risk of fall frost. This is not just a Peace country problem.
Making things up as you go rarely turns out. Please let the actual farmers in the Peace country field this question.

[cowmanbob]

The hayfields I see from Peace river area and north look to me like a half bale to the acre. Some early grazed pastures are brown. Some crops look okay. Grasshoppers are around. A bit of rain in the forecast.

[Albertacoyotecaller]

Anything I have seen in the last few weeks looks terrible. It doesn’t look like it will be a good year at all.

[yoteblaster]

No disrespect but I seriously doubt you are a farmer Drewski. Not that you claimed you are but you are uninformed about how farming works. I am a farmer and would never leave crop in the field because it was poor. Crop insurance wouldn’t allow it either.

[mac1983]

My oats are looking good, hay is fine, wont be a record year. Its grown lots the last couple of weeks, need some heat, we got enough moisture for now though. Garden is doing real good and haven't watered it once.

[Drewski Canuck]

Yoteblaster & Missflyfishing,

It was picked up. The year was 2003, and it was 3 Quarters about 10 miles west of Peace and badly droughted.

At 15 bpa, with poor grade, and mediocre prices in those days, with fuel prices, the crop insurance was all that was collected on.

No I am not a farmer, but after walking those Quarters with the farmer, and hearing about his input costs for Argentine canola, fertiliser, etc, and what canola was worth back then, no, it was bad money after good, but the farmer could not seed the following year until the very thin crop was taken down.

So, how do you become a Millionaire farmer? Start with 10 million an d work down to 1 million.

So I really do have sympathy for the farmers in Alberta, especially with the conditions up north.

Drewski

[yoteblaster]

Ya it’s real tough watching your crops wither away. Been there, done that. Things look really good in my neck of the woods but always feel for fellow farmers having a tough go no matter where they farm

[NCC]

I ranched north of Valleyview for 15 years. The Peace is a land of extremes from droughts to floods. One year we had 8’ of snow followed by 8” followed by 10’ the third year. Add in the grasshoppers and wolf predation problems on top of the unpredictable weather. I miss the long hot summer evenings and wide open spaces but it’s a tough place to farm when the taps shut off. I give those who persevere a great deal of credit.