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John Van Eaton says moisture in the form of snow in April will make a difference as spring seeding gets under way.
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Van Eaton farms northeast of Maryfield, planning on planting spring wheat, barley, canola, and peas this year.
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He says that the moisture that was received in April snowfall will make for ideal conditions for germinating crops, however additional moisture will be needed after seeding is complete.
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鈥淲e鈥檙e still very concerned about moisture levels, not so much perhaps for germinating a crop but certainly for grassland and pasture. We鈥檙e going to be reliant on timely rains this summer because the subsoil moisture is not going to carry us through the season,鈥� VanEaton said.
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鈥淲e haven鈥檛 begun seeding yet. We鈥檙e working towards that and working on our cattle operation as well. We probably won鈥檛 be seeding until around the 2nd of May.鈥�
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He says that a healthy mixture of sun and rain would be ideal through May and into June.
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鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 say the moisture we got was nothing. Certainly, it was welcome moisture but it鈥檚 not going to be enough, especially on grasslands and pastures, it鈥檚 not going to be enough to adequately get that crop going. We鈥檙e not as concerned about field crops as we are about grasslands and pastures.
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鈥淲e鈥檙e just like everybody else, we want to see some timely rain with no adverse weather and some warm, sunny days to go with it.鈥�
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VanEaton expressed concern regarding the federal Cabon Tax as well, noting its impacts on production costs.
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He says that despite the higher than average grain prices, this additional cost has weighed heavily on producers.
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鈥淐osts have escalated dramatically. It鈥檚 been well-publicized about higher than normal grain prices, but they鈥檙e being offset by dramatically increased costs. Part of the reason for that is because of COVID-19 and also covering the federal government鈥檚 carbon tax. I think it鈥檚 understated, the effect that it has on the economy.鈥�
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