Initial reports suggest hay stands look promising in most of the province, although some frost damage was noted in the east as of the end of May.

Why it matters: Manitoba’s hay crop looks like it might be creeping back up to more normal harvest after two years of significantly poor stands, at least in central and western Manitoba.

John McGregor, co-ordinator of the Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association’s Green Gold program, noted that alfalfa stands in central and western Manitoba were, “coming along very well,” as of the first week of June.

The annual program monitors alfalfa quality in an effort to nail down a yearly “hay day,” or the point when hay reaches the optimal quality to cut.

McGregor said stands he is monitoring in west and central Manitoba are about 18 inches high as of the start of June.

“They’re seeing some pretty good growth,” he said. “The heat is helping quite a bit.”

While the province saw a slow start to the spring with cold temperatures well into May, temperatures also soared into the high ‘20s starting at the May long weekend.

As of June 8, the Green Gold program was reporting average stands of 25 inches in central and 21 inches in western Manitoba, while harvest in some areas had been reported by June 10.

There were a few reports of frost damage in either the west or central Manitoba, due cold temperatures May 30, he noted, “but it doesn’t sound like there’s anything really major that I’ve heard of.”

Areas from Somerset to Minnedosa, as well as Alonsa and Minitonas also saw temperatures between -1 C and -2 C for three hours or more at the end of May, according to provincial weather data.

Frost, floods hit in the east

Stands in southeastern Manitoba are more delayed. McGregor estimated that eastern stands fell about four inches shy of their western counterparts by the start of June.

Stands fall even shorter compared to central Manitoba. As of June 8, the Green Gold program was reporting average eastern stands at 18 inches.

Those stands, likewise, have reported the most frost damage after temperatures dropped below -4 C for several hours in parts of the province May 30.

Eastern Manitoba and the Interlake took the brunt of the frost that hit Manitoba at the end of May, although areas around Neepawa and Kenton also saw temperatures below -2 C.

“There are fields that got hit very hard with the frost and there are other ones that just got lightly touched,” McGregor said.

One eastern field in his sample group, “got pretty well leaf burn on the alfalfa right down to the bottom,” he said, “and, as I say, other fields it was mostly the top leaves. Those leaves that got hit, they’re going to dry off and fall off.”

At the time, he said, it was yet unclear whether those hard hit fields would have to come back right from the crown of the plant.

Fields in Eastern Manitoba abruptly went from moisture starved to underwater in places after a string of storms brought up to 150 millimetres of moisture to the region over the second weekend of June.

Overland flooding caused a state of emergency over the weekend in the R.M. of Stuartburn.

The June 9 Manitoba crop report noted that many pastures and hay fields in the southeastern part of the province were under water and that “forage productivity is expected to be severely impacted.”

The province expects that impacted farmers will not be able to take off their first cut.

McGregor had already expected that first cut might be delayed in the area, and harvest volumes impacted by both frost and previously dry conditions, compared to central and western Manitoba.

Interlake

McGregor’s data does not extend into the Interlake, since no producers in that area signed on to submit samples to the Green Gold program this year.

His northernmost submission, a field in Beausejour, showed only limited frost damage, despite reported temperatures of -3.5 C for five hours, according to the province’s ag weather network.

Temperatures in the Interlake May 30 dropped below -3 C for up to seven hours in places like Lake Francis, with a low point of -4.2 C for seven hours in Narcisse.

Garry Klassen, who farms near Arborg, says he has noted little frost damage, despite temperatures of -2.6 C registered for six hours May 30, according to the province.

“I would say they’re not too bad if we’re going to get rain here soon,” he said.

Klassen was echoed by fellow Interlake producer, Darrel Dueck.

Dueck does not have alfalfa stands this year, but said both his corn and grass are faring well, although some of his neighbours reported significant frost damage on their corn.

“It’s pretty dry,” he noted.

According to data from the CoCoRaHS weather monitoring network, the same storms that dropped several inches of rain in southeastern Manitoba dropped less than an inch of rain over much of the Interlake.

Breaking the cycle?

Klassen also hopes his area might be breaking the cycle of feed shortage that it has been stuck in for the last several years.

Last year marked the second that most of Manitoba earned a place on the federal livestock tax deferral program, a program which requires an area to fall short of half its normal long-term hay forage harvest in order to qualify.

Concerns over short feed also prompted over a dozen municipalities in the Parkland and Interlake to announce states of agricultural emergency, as well as a round of provincially-sponsored seminars on making due with short feed over the winter.

The start of spring in 2020 gave little cause for optimism, as cold temperatures delayed spring regrowth. The delay, along with stretched feed supplies, caused provincial livestock specialists to issue warnings against early turnout, similar to spring 2019.

Provincial specialists warned that premature turnout would tax pastures that had already been taxed over the last several years of overgrazing, and that the poor pastures, in turn, might lead to similarly high open rates as parts of the Interlake saw last fall.

Veterinarians in the Interlake noted regular open findings of 30 per cent or more in fall 2019.

McGregor echoed producer hopes on forage harvest, at least in central and western Manitoba, this year.

“When I look at the central and the western area, they’re off to what I would consider a normal start,” he said. “They’re growing. The alfalfa seems to be coming along. It’s probably right on track for a typically normal type of year.”

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That brings the total number of Manitoba cases of the novel coronavirus that’s sweeping the globe to seven, the province announced Sunday.

The Interlake case is the first one that’s been logged outside of Winnipeg.

The province will also open another access centre in Thompson Monday, and plans to open more in rural and northern communities this week.

The province’s Healthlinks program has logged more than 1,000 COVID-19-related calls.

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Drought and grasshoppers have hindered crops to the point that hay production is about 25 to 30 per cent of average.

“We’ve moved cows out of pastures because the grasshoppers ate everything faster than the cows,” said Mike Duguid, who has farmed ar Arnes, Man., for about 60 years.

Duguid said he finished last year with “not one bale left in the yard” due to consecutive years of lower-than-average hay yields.

“Lots of guys are in the exact same position, with no reserves,” he said. “Not 100 bales or anything in your yard to start with.”

Cattle producers in the Interlake have reduced their herds to match feed supply as cattle were turned out onto pastures that weren’t producing as much hay as expected.

“Hay prices are too high to maintain a herd,” said Duguid. “You’ll go broke just trying to feed them.”

Currently, a 1,000-lb. round bale of hay costs about $100 — up considerably from the typical $30 per round bale.

“I doubt prices will drop until we see an oversupply again,” he said.

With the state of emergency, producers in the Interlake are hoping for freight assistance to ship in hay from elsewhere in the province.

Grain farmers in the area have aided livestock producers by baling straw to use to supplement hay stocks.

“That’ll stretch hay supplies way further,” said Duguid. “We’re happy they have come through for us.”

— Marlo Glass writes for MarketsFarm, a Glacier FarmMedia division specializing in grain and commodity market analysis and reporting.

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Ian Steppler, vice-chair of the Manitoba Beekeepers Association, said almost every honey producer he’s spoken to has had a shorter crop than usual this year — especially in the Interlake.

Steppler, who farms near Miami, said he usually has honey to late August or early September. This year he finished mid-month.

The early finish to the season may be tied to dry weather. Steppler said stressed crops don’t produce as much nectar.

Near Fisher Branch, Paul Gregory said he’s had to begin feeding his bees already, which he attributed to dry conditions.

He said he’s seen a below-average honey crop, in part because the bees don’t have much second-crop alfalfa to feed on.

Steppler said fields in his area also seem to have fewer flowering weeds for bees to forage.

Despite the drawbacks, Steppler said this year has been a record honey crop, most of which was collected in July.

He attributed this to staggered seeding and reseeding of canola in his area, which spread the blooming period out to almost eight weeks. Timely rains and a hot July made for flourishing fields, and flowers that “gave nectar like crazy.”

“I’m very happy with my honey crop this year,” said Steppler.

He said there have also been more sunflowers planted in his area. “That helped me quite a bit when the canola stopped flowering.”

Gregory added that despite a lot of spraying for pests in his area, he hasn’t had any bees killed off.

He said he was “extremely proud” of his neighbouring farmers. He’s come to expect one or two moderate bee kills per year due to pesticide spraying.

Gregory attributed this success to farmers being more concerned for the environment and more careful in how they timed their spraying.

Steppler said his hives are in “terrific” shape for winter.

“We’re going to have to do a lot more feeding,” said Gregory, adding that since they’ve already begun feeding, he expects to feed 25 to 30 per cent more this year.

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The RMs of Alonsa, Armstrong, Bifrost-Riverton, Coldwell, Ethelbert, Fisher, Grahamdale, Lakeshore, McCreary, Ste. Rose, West Interlake and Woodlands announced the motion in a news release Thursday.

The municipalities are calling on the province to initiate discussions with the federal government to assess the situation under the AgriRecovery framework.

AgriRecovery is a disaster-recovery framework which would help producers recover from “extraordinary costs” sustained in a disaster, according to the federal government’s website.

Municipalities are also asking that an AgriRecovery program be considered to provide immediate feed and freight assistance and compensation for drilling additional wells or hauling of water to livestock.

Lack of rain throughout the year has caused considerable damage to the agriculture industry within the Interlake and Parkland regions, the release said.

Due to the extremely dry conditions, grain, hay and straw producers have faced severely reduced crop yields and pastures have also been devastated. These factors have led to diminished feed resources. The severity of the feed shortage has been compounded by a depleted inventory of carryover feed following a dry 2018.

The municipalities said that livestock producers are faced with extraordinary expenses to purchase and transport feed for their livestock. They are paying drill additional wells to provide water to their animals because dugouts have dried up.

Some producers are facing the prospect of having to sell a large portion of their livestock because of the high cost of providing feed. There is increasing desperation among farmers in the Interlake and Parkland regions, the release said.

Furthermore, municipalities are asking the Manitoba government to prioritize a meeting with local producers, along with other industry stakeholders to discuss the shortcomings of existing business risk management programs and possible areas for improvement.

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Cool weather was general across the province that year. Weather columnist Daniel Bezte, wearing his other hat as chair of the Giant Pumpkin Growers Association, said his potential entry for the Great Pumpkin Festival in Roland had only reached 75 pounds.

We reported the first sign of finding Triffid, the unregistered variety of genetically modified flax, in a cargo of Canadian flax which was being prevented from being unloaded in Europe. Flax bids had dropped from around $10 a bushel to as low as $6.78 in a few days.

In livestock news, the issue contained a reminder that as of Jan. 1, 2010, all cattle needed to be tagged with a CFIA-approved radio frequency identification (RFID) tag. Cattle producers were welcoming a WTO ruling which favoured Canada’s case against South Korea in its refusal to accept Canadian beef.

However, there was no good news in the hog industry — an op-ed piece reflected on its current state, with producers said to be losing about $40 per head.

The post It never rains, it pours appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

While many producers are still working to get the first cut done and the situation could change with the second cut, many regions are already reporting below-average yields.

“In areas of the province where moisture was lacking through that important time of May and they also had some above-average temperatures, in those areas certainly hay yields have been affected,” said Mark Cutts, a crop specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry at Lacombe.

He estimated half to two-thirds of the hay in the driest areas could see lower-than-average yields.

Central and southern Alberta are especially dry and northeastern and northwestern regions are also reporting below-average yields.

The Peace region appears to be the outlier this year, with average hay yields reported.

Cutts cautioned it’s too soon to give up on the crop.

“It will be interesting to see how it plays out. Showers have been happening in different areas of the province now, so some areas are getting moisture, which will help for the second cut.

“If producers can get a decent second cut, that will reduce some of that pressure for feed.”

As the summer progresses, producers will begin making decisions based on their field conditions, he said.

They could turn a crop into green feed, or silage, or look to other sources if the dry conditions persist.

Ben Fox, president of Manitoba Beef Producers, said producers in his province are also facing dry conditions and hay production “looks to be on the short side.”

In spots, he said, “I think it could be worse than last year, but everybody, usually, in agriculture has a very positive outlook on things so those (fields) do have some time left in the growing season.”

Manitoba’s Interlake is especially dry, he said, with most areas receiving well below average moisture.

Southern fields are also withering under dry conditions, he said, adding that good hay crops are being reported in the Winkler-Morden and Riding Mountain-Dauphin areas.

Fox said he has already heard talk of producers in drier areas sourcing supplemental feed supplies to ensure they will have enough to feed their herds.

One producer near Winnipegosis has two-thirds of his supply stacked up in his yard already, he said.

“It’s just that folks are going to have to work a little harder maybe to get what they need.”

First-cut hay in Saskatchewan is also showing below-average yields in southeastern, east-central and west-central regions, while low topsoil moisture and heat are dragging down all production in the southwest.

Hay crops in the northeast have received good moisture and 20 per cent of the first cut is rated excellent, with 80 per cent rated good.

In the northwest, most areas have adequate moisture with an average crop, but strong winds and rain are hindering harvest, according to the latest provincial crop report.

— Terry Fries writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Glacier FarmMedia company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting. Follow CNS Canada at @CNSCanada on Twitter.

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No regions were reporting drinking water shortages as of early June, although Manitoba’s June 4 crop report noted varying levels across the province. Dugouts in the Interlake flagged at a third to two-thirds full, while eastern dugouts sat at 75 per cent full and both the southwest and central regions had “adequate” water.

Shawn Cabak, Manitoba livestock specialist for the central region, said lack of recharge this spring, as well as evaporation since, had some producers pumping to their dugouts this spring.

“I don’t think there’s anything dire yet, but we are only mid-June and there’s still lots of summer to go,” he said.

June 14 storms, which brought over 40 millimetres to some parts of central Manitoba along with damaging hail from the southwest region most of the way to the Red River, may mean some improvement, Cabak said, although the rains were likely not enough for significant run-off. Without that run-off, he said, gains would be limited to how much water directly fell into the dugout.

“We got one to two inches, so it’ll help, but it still won’t bring the dugout up very much,” he said.

The June 14 storms brought little moisture to the Interlake.

Ray Bittner, provincial livestock specialist in the Interlake, says his region is still anxious for rain, despite the downpours that other parts of the province have reported.

Manitoba Agriculture weather stations put rainfall below 70 per cent of normal through most of the Interlake, with the driest area accumulating only 20 millimetres of rain since the start of May as of June 10.

Bittner is advising farmers to have an alternate watering plan, such as pumping from drilled wells, if dugout levels are dropping.

“This isn’t the first time we’ve had a drought. There are some drilled wells out there that haven’t been used in 10 or 15 years,” he said. “Testing them now would probably be a good idea.”

The Manitoba Beef Producers has also heard reports from its members concerned over dugout levels, although president Ben Fox says such reports are mostly isolated.

“Some folks have had their problems resolved with some rain, but currently, obviously, our advice to producers would be to make sure they continue to check their water sources and monitor their livestock to be able to make adjustments as necessary,” he said.

Both Bittner and Cabak raised the option of a pump system, something Cabak argued would not only mean more consistent water, but higher water quality, something both provincial livestock specialists have touted for herd health and productivity in the past.

“Some reservoirs are bigger than others, so if they have a large capacity, there’ll be less concern versus some of the smaller dugouts, or if they have multiple dugouts,” Cabak said. “Definitely, they should be keeping an eye on their water supply and if water volumes are dropping or to the point where livestock aren’t getting adequate quality or volume, that will affect gains and it could affect health.”

Cabak says he has not seen a major rise in interest in alternative watering, although Bittner has seen a slight jump in producers asking about solar watering systems and other such options since weather turned dry last year. He added, however, that, “the traffic hasn’t sped up a great deal. It doesn’t reflect the amount of problem that could occur yet.”

Low dugouts have caused less concern in the northwest, where a string of storms has brought precipitation well above normal in areas like Roblin, Ethelbert and Swan River.

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Grainews machinery editor Scott Garvey heads out into a few fields in the Interlake north of Winnipeg to find out how seeding is progressing for farmers in the area and what they’re seeing in terms of soil moisture.

Video editing by Greg Berg. This video first appeared on the Grainews website.

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The federal and provincial governments have announced $1 million in Growing Forward 2 funding for a pilot project in the Rural Municipality of Bifrost-Riverton, which aims to improve drainage and address other water-related issues affecting farmers.

Bifrost Agricultural Sustain­ability Community Service Cooperative will use the money in a number of areas over the next three years.

Eric Fridfinnson heads the organization and said the area is facing a number of problems when it comes to managing surface water.

“The municipality really is kind of the valley, or the drainage system, for some of the high lands to the west, north and a bit to the south, they all drain in here… so there is a fair bit of water that comes from outside the area,” he said. “We have also been, or tend to be, blessed with a fair bit of rainfall as well.”

One thing the municipality hasn’t been blessed with in recent years is infrastructure funding, but Fridfinnson said the pilot project will allow for the rehabilitation of more than 330 kilometres of municipal drains and ditches.

“Over the past several decades — when a lot of water management and planning structures were put in place in many parts of the province — we seemed to miss out on that, so we really seem to have a fair bit of an infrastructure deficit here, which is probably one of the main problems,” he explained.

The pilot project will also examine the affects that various agricultural practices have on excess moisture, as well as which crops are best suited to the area’s high moisture levels.

“For this year we’re looking at a new sunflower variety that is supposed to be resistant to moisture and is quite an early variety too,” Fridfinnson said. “We are also looking at water tolerance between different crops like flax, and also some work on seeding rates and the ability of plants to recover or to deal with excess moisture at different seeding rates.”

How to better mitigate soil erosion and reduce nutrient run-off will be investigated as well.

Fridfinnson said a project manager has been hired and is working with the co-operative and the municipality to plan future actions. Currently he is assessing and surveying existing water-related infrastructure.

The co-operative has been working towards better water management for several years, and said the groundwork for the most recent investment began under the previous provincial government and was signed off on by current Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler.

“We are committed to finding effective solutions to deal with chronic excess moisture, to help reduce the devastating effects on farm families and the rural economy,” said Eichler. “This project supports on-farm competitiveness and profitability and may offer lessons that can be applied in other parts of the province dealing with similar challenges.”

Fridfinnson, who farms near Arborg, said it’s been frustrating to see crops losses year after year because a lack of infrastructure doesn’t allow rainfall to be effectively channelled into or away from agricultural endeavours.

“We’ve seen a lot of money be paid out by crop insurance and by other government programs, when improvements to our infrastructure might make a lot of that unnecessary and actually cost a lot less,” he said. “And I think that has been recognized by both levels of government, we’ve had great support for the program.

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