Weather helping farmers so far

By ALEX McCUAIG Special to the News on May 13, 2021.

With both dryland and irrigated crops dotting the landscape across a southeastern Alberta that is also carpeted with grazing pasture on the shortgrass prairie, getting the weather conditions right for all producers can be challenging.

But this spring has produced some good conditions – not necessarily great – for all the region’s agricultural operations, said Nichole Neubauer of the family-run and operated Neubauer Farms.

“Other countries are looking to Canada to fill their field stock,” said Neubauer of the current market conditions.

With nearly 1,500 acres of dryland crops such as peas and lentils along with durum and wheat, not to mention a cattle operation, the recent rains that have fallen in the region have been welcome.

“We’re close to being done,” said Neubauer of spring seeding, adding her outfit has about 300 acres left to do.

That recent moisture has allowed for crops to germinate barely two weeks into May.

“A bunch of it is jumping up already,” said Neubauer.

A dry spring has also been good for calving season and, “for most of us prairie folk, we’re done,” she said, adding some of the ranchers in the higher elevations around the Cypress Hills may have a little left to go.

But with many dugouts dry with little in the way of snow runoff to fill them this spring, “whether we have water or not will be the next challenge,” said Neubauer.

Too much could make the pulses which have been booming in price and crop volume locally susceptible to disease. Not enough could hit the canola fields which are also seeing the price spike with demand, not to mention stunting pasture that is already parched.

“If it just keeps raining at the right time, that’s the answer to everybody in the arid southeast,” said Neubauer.

Neubauer says flea beetles could pose a problem for canola growers while restriction on strychnine is going to make controlling damage from Richardson’s ground squirrels difficult.

But even with perfect conditions this year, farmers will be keeping track of developments in the pipeline situation which threatens to replace “grains on trains” with oil products and which may delay, “getting our product to the markets that want it,” said Neubauer.

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