CNS Canada — Frosty late-May weather in parts of Western Canada means some farmers will need to reseed canola crops — but due to a seed shortage, some may have to wait.
Temperatures dropped below freezing for a number of hours Saturday morning across a large area of Manitoba and into eastern Saskatchewan, according to WeatherFarm data.
Peter Entz, director of seed and traits at Richardson International, said the industry will be able to keep up with seed demand, but farmers might have to wait a few days longer than expected.
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“Seed will need to get treated and bagged and shipped to locations in order to support the level of reseeding that we anticipate to be going on in parts of Western Canada,” he said.
Rain is anticipated for Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday, which will help the crops that are already in the ground, but will cause delays for any reseeding that needs to take place.
Brian Voth, vice-president of operations at Agri-Trend Marketing, said farmers will be eager to reseed before then.
“It’ll be a bit of a battle against the clock, and I know a lot of people in Manitoba are a bit anxious. Especially with the forecast,” he said.
Clint Jurke, agronomy director for the Canola Council of Canada at Lloydminster, Sask., said a lot of people are still assessing the damage the frost caused.
If they can seed before the rain, it would be an advantage, he said.
“For the people that are reseeding, moisture in there would certainly be welcome. The crops won’t come up very well without that moisture.”
— Jade Markus writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.
