Farmers looking for cooperative forecast

Seeding is several weeks behind schedule this year due to the cool and wet conditions but farmers are slowly getting out onto their fields.

This week’s weather isn’t what producers want to see with rain the forecast on Thursday.

Ron Krahn farms at Rivers and he has been able to get out onto some filed this week and start seeding. “Normally my goal is to be done by May long weekend and now we’re just nicely rolling. Our average start date is April 20th so we’re noticeably behind normal but if the weather would cooperate everyone would appreciate that.”

The recent windy weather has helped to dry things out but Krahn says this without question is one of the wetter springs he can remember.

“If rain hits this week we’ll lose another couple of days. The rain this past Friday and Saturday set us back about three days. I’m hopeful for our area that not as much rain will fall. Most farms need two to three weeks to get everything in the ground and there are some crop insurance deadlines for corn and soybeans coming up sooner than later so if you do the math backwards from the deadlines it’s high time to get rolling if you can.”

Ron Krahn says there are a lot of anxious farmers and he knows of producers buying equipment that will allow them to spread fertilizer ahead of the drill or spread canola seed and harrow it in. “People are getting their back up plans ready. There’s a lot of motivation to get the crop in the ground because crop insurance doesn’t cover us until we are seeded. Prices are tremendous and if we can get a crop there’s tremendous potential there.”

“It feels like the stakes are higher than some other years” said Ron Krahn.