Ryan Kiedrowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The World-Spectator
A cooler, wetter-than-usual July has helped bolster crops in the area as vast seas of yellow canola stretch across the prairie landscape. According to the most recent cropland topsoil moisture map, the levels are reported as ‘adequate’ for the southeast. The on and off wildfire smoke has providing mixed results in terms of crop development.
“I thought that smoke gave us tremendous yield, then the next year it didn’t,” said Gerald-area producer Kevin Hruska, adding he’s had it with the smoky summers of recent growing seasons. “I can’t extrapolate what that smoke means to our crop yields, but it’s sickening. It’s five years of this in this area.”
One bonus is the protection the smoke provides from the hot sun, although this summer hasn’t seen too many hot days so far.
“The sun isn’t cooking everything,” agreed Blake Duchek, who farms in the Atwater area. “It’s basically like it’s cloudy all the time, and I think we’ll probably see the canola bloom for an extra week or so. Every day that it blooms, it’s more and more canola pods that it forms.”
That’s good for the canola, but Duchek also noted some oats he’s seeded on May 28 still haven’t headed out yet.
“I just talked to my agrologist about it, and he’s like, ‘wow, that’s pretty weird for them not to be headed out,’ but being that it’s been so cloudy and cool and with the moisture, he said that could delay it by 10 days,” Duchek explained. “But, if we get an early frost, we could be in trouble.”
Moisture levels remain consistent
Near Rocanville, Rylar Hutchinson says that the smoke has helped his canola as well.
“I’d say the wildfire smoke is having a positive impact on crops this year especially the canola,” he said. “It has helped it flower longer with the cooler temperatures and being overcast, and we’ve got to feel grateful considering how others are dealing with the wildfires, and in some areas drought. We’ve been very fortunate this year so far!”
Timely showers interspersed with a few days in a row of sunny conditions have set the stage for some fantastic looking crops, he says.
“Crops are looking good, it’s been a good growing year so far,” Hutchinson said. “We’ve had the little rains and it’s not scorching hot either, which the canola likes. Cooler temps are easier on the canola and help it flower longer.”
While it seemed as though late June and early July produced a higher than average number of funnel clouds, Hutchinson notes “nothing wild over here!”
“Just scattered showers,” he said. “I’d say the crops are developing nicely compared to other years, but we’re not out of the woods yet. There’s a long way to go until the crops in the bin.”
Producers are hoping the tap doesn’t turn off quite yet as there’s still a lot of time left before thoughts of harvest begin.
“I’ve been talking to some of the chemical reps and just interviewing them as they come to visit us about other things, and generally speaking, the crops in their whole area are sort of okay, however our crops are looking really good because we had that early snow and early rain, and we’ve had several nice little three- to four-tenths rains,” Hruska said. “Right at the moment, we’re quite pleased with everything, but our canola is definitely going to need a couple more showers because it’s just in bloom now.”
Despite the anomaly with his oats, Duchek calls this year’s crop one of the best he’s had in a number of years.
“Right where our land-base is, we’ve been getting rains every week to 10 days,” he said. “I just pulled some plants out of the ground, and there’s lots of moisture there to finish the crop off, so I actually think it is one of our best crops in a long time.”
Looking farther south on the map, crops are also looking fine, but the hay could use a little help.
“Certainly in the southeast, anything I’ve seen looks really good,” said Cannington MLA and provincial Agriculture Minister Daryl Harrison. “I would probably agree that overall, the canola crops are looking fairly decent across the canola growing region.”
The Alida-area rancher also noted timely rains and a lack of ‘blistering hot temperatures’ helped canola producers out his way.
“We don’t need any strong winds and hail—that can stay away—but as of now in the southeast, I’m going to say grain and oilseed producers are pretty pleased with how things look,” Harrison said. “Our hay is not what it should be, but our pastures are sufficient. Our crops seem to be doing very well. We had a little over an inch of rain at my place last evening (July 20), so that will go a long ways to getting our crops filled. As these storms come up, too, it’s not in the bin, and we got a few weeks to go before that happens. So a lot can change between now and then.”
Rain actually put haying activities on hold in some parts of the southeast, with 32 per cent of the crop cut, 49 per cent of it either baled or in silage, and 19 per cent still standing. Quality remains decent as well with 15 per cent of hay rated as excellent, 55 per cent good, 27 per cent fair, and only four per cent in the poor category.
Pests not a huge issue
Pests so far this growing season have also been at a minimum. Minor damage has been reported throughout the southeast due to the usual suspects including grasshoppers, lygus bugs, and flea beetles, but not to a crucial extent.
“Back in the springtime there, we only saw flea beetles the one night, and that was it,” Duchek said. “The only thing that’s really causing us any grief is the gophers.”
Three years ago, Duchek broke one half-section that had been pasture, which had been hit hard by gophers the first year.
“That first year, they took a big chunk of the canola on the hills, they chewed it right out,” Duchek recalled. “Then the next year—last year—was wheat, and there was no damage. They weren’t there. Now this year, they are back.”
Having seeded the land back to canola this year, Duchek has noticed large bare spots on the hilltops on the half-section. With a healthy population of predators such as coyotes and eagles, Duchek is baffled why the gophers continue to appear in such large numbers.
Over the next few weeks, producers will be busy with final applications of fungicide, getting that hay cut, and preparing equipment for harvest.
