Crop Condition/Moisture Update

[TOM4CWB]

Charlie;

I think the precipitation map since April 1 on :http://www.agr.gc.ca/pfra/drought/prpgs05_e.htm

says volumes about how we are doing!

[sawfly]

west central sask.Unity wilkie best moisture in years. seeding 80% done in area.but further north i hear there is a lot less done

[sagewood]

Also east of Airdrie, close to highway 9--as Silverback says, ungodly dry. In 30 years of living on this ranch I have never seen it this dry. Looks like just one more disaster heaped on top of another. We have not had any type of good spring moisture since 2000 and last year the snow was scarce and light--we are like a desert. I am with Silverback, am thinking of calling the insurance folks soon and making a claim. Seems like we are in a pocket here, as there is rain all around us. The tame grasses started to green up in April with the high heat and then we had 5 - 8 days of -10 degrees at night and since then the grass has not greened up--2/10th of an inch of rain is what I have had here. I think most of my grass hay is a goner.

[agstar77]

Received another 1/2'' of rain last nite. Some farmers haven't been able to get into their fields. Wheat and canola up in the planted fields. Manitoba is back to the wet cycle.

[dalek]

East-Central Ontario. No measurable rain now for over 6 weeks. Crops are almost all in, grain and early corn are up but not doing much. The oldtimers are calling the hay and pasture the worst they've ever seen for the end of May. Neighbour had to start cutting Friday because he was out of feed but he was just clipping the dandelion heads. With a 12' cut you couldn't see anything coming out the spout on the forage harvester. Bad combination, no moisture and averaging 7-8 degrees cooler than normal.

[rodb]

Wind has blown incessantly for the past week. I feel like I have moved to Pincher Creek. We have had 18 mm of rain in May. There is still some moisture close to the surface but even the trees are starting to look a little funny. It is suppose to rain tomorrow but we were suppose to get rain last week as well.Even the zero till fields are starting to stall.

So much for the Garden of Eden at Innisfail

[ALLFARMER]

grassfarmer I am located in the north peace country 3/4 hr north of Manning

[sagewood]

Finally some rain--not what is deluging Calgary and the Foothills, but rain all the same. We have had an inch since the rain started on Wed. It depends what little black cloud passes over your place on how much rain falls. I hear from neighbors just east of me that they were out working in the fields yesterday, so the rain is not happening much east of the # 9 highway in the Irricana/Beiseker area. North of that seems to be getting some moisture. Friends in Manitoba cannot make it stop raining as they have had 6" and the roads are washed out--some areas with 10" and basically flooded. This rain for us is a godsend, however, there will be limited hay production in this area. One can only hope for greenfeed crops and greenfeed being offered at a reasonable price. With the price of cows/calves, it does not make a lot of sense to dump large sums of cash into buying hay or greenfeed to keep these animals through the winter. hg