Hopefully by the time you read this, everyone is well on the way to a good crop and the price of everything is improving.
The Saskatoon weather summary confirmed that May was a very windy month with 25 days reporting 40k and over. Most of the burnoff here happened either in the very early morning or late evening. One of the identifying characteristics of a no-till farmer seems to be a light bar on the sprayer tractor. Post seeding burnoff prior to emergence was a "white knuckle " experience.
In the early years of no-till, when the skies were dark from blowing dust, I used to drop in on my neighbours for coffee and was able to feel smug that my soil was staying where it belonged. This spring on one of the dirtier, windier days, I drove past the R.M. crew digging out a culvert that had plugged last year after a dramatic downpour. The ditch was full of soil to the level of the approach, and at least three feet of eroded topsoil was being removed in order to clear the culvert. Here indeed was evidence of both wind and soil erosion both on the same day.
The persistent wind and the lack of precipitation in the western part of the province gave an object lesson in evaporation rates. I was feeling good about the levels of stubble that kept the seed bed from drying out. However, even with the moisture efficiencies, we kept seeding deeper and deeper and the canola emergence was spotty. Then it rained and the relief around here was extraordinary.
As a Board, we have spent considerable time and effort meeting with Provincial Cabinet Ministers and officials in an effort to see that the efforts farmers make to sustainable agriculture and their contribution to Canada's climate change challenges do not go unrecognized and are, hopefully, rewarded. Our goal is to be a voice for you.
Best of luck for the crop year!