Flooding May Delay Spring Seeding In Some Areas

The province's first flood outlook of the year is creating concern for some farmers.

Levels on the Red River south of the floodway are expected to be near 2011 levels with normal weather conditions, while flows on the Assiniboine and Souris Rivers are also expected to be high. Unfavourable weather conditions would bring Red River levels comparable to 2009, which saw extended road closures of PTH 75 and other roads, and evacuations in some areas. Partial closure of some community dikes may also be required.

Bill Campbell is president of Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP).

"There may be some times of delayed seeding," he said. "We may not be on the land in April. I kind of anticipate a normal spring thaw/melt process but any conditions could make it better or worse...We do not have large amounts of snowfall in the southwest or the northwest part of the province. It's quite variable."

Campbell says there could be some challenges with grain transportation if highways are closed as a result of the spring flooding.

"I think that we are dealing with a situation where we may have enhanced transportation requirements for moving our commodities to port or for export. It will be interesting to see how things evolve here in the next two months. We would like to see some rail movement, but maybe it will get better if Thunder Bay starts to open up. We've got a lot of grain to move yet in Manitoba."