Dry conditions mean farmers are seeding early but face risks

Many farmers are getting ready to seed weeks ahead of schedule.

Farmers in the High River area are seeding crops, and it’s the earliest locals have seen that happen in a long time, even though there are still risks.

It’s a bit like gambling… plant now, and you could get the crop off early, or you could lose it to frost or lack of moisture.

“If we get a frost like last night, it was minus six overnight, so if it turns around and gets back to that tonight or anytime in the next three weeks it could easily get down to, lots of time we are unsafe until the May long weekend before we are safe from frost,” said Steven Skory, farmer.

Skory is hedging his bets and waiting until next week to seed. Others have decided to go for broke right now. Buck Groeneveld is running his air seeder full bore, and is hoping for the best.

“It’s dryer than we like to see it, it was an awful mild winter, so we are going a lot earlier than usual trying to put something into moisture while it’s still there, we’re looking for some rain, snow, moisture of any kind, really,” he said.

There are things that farmers can do to moderate the risk, like choosing crops carefully.

“There are certain crops that will take frost better, peas, cereals, wheat and barley will probably take a lot more frost than, say, a canola,” said Groeneveld.

Even though planting conditions are uncertain, farmland value has been rising steadily for the last few years, up over 11% this year alone.

“In the last 2-3 years, they have been going up more than normal,” said Craig Puetz of Agriterra Equipment. “I view that as a positive indicator that farming is buoyant, farmers are optimistic, and that is reflected in land prices. Money is flowing into farmland right now because it’s seen as a safe haven for investors.”

This year’s warm and dry conditions are due in part to El Nino’s disruption of normal weather patterns.