Early Spring Slipping Away

Manitoba farmers are starting to feel the pressure from Mother Nature.

 

Bill Campbell is president of Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP).

 

"In early April there was that thought that it may be an early spring, things were coming along pretty good," he commented. "We've had a couple of snowfalls and the ground is frozen pretty good here now. We probably lost two weeks and maybe it won't take two weeks to get back to an opportunity and certain places will be a little ahead of others but I'd suggest we're a week to 10 days before we could travel on some fields once the frost gets out of the ground again."

 

Campbell says there's lots of field work to do once the wheels start turning.

 

"We have so many things to do in the spring of 2020. To get that seed bed back in shape and it's to get last year's crop out of the way and all of those issues and then we have very limited fertilizer applied. So there's a lot of challenges. We need a lot of help from Mother Nature and good weather."

Video: Spring Planting Prep Just Got Serious… We NEED This!

Getting closer to planting season means one thing… it’s time to get EVERYTHING ready.

Today didn’t go exactly as planned—we thought we’d be hauling potatoes again, but instead we spent the day digging equipment out of the cellar, hooking up the grain drill, and getting tractors ready to roll. With wheat planting just around the corner, every piece of equipment matters.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a normal day without a few problems… dead batteries, hydraulic issues, and a truck tire that absolutely refused to cooperate. We tried everything—jump packs, bead bazooka, ratchet straps… and eventually had to bring out the “big guns” just to get things moving again.

But that’s farm life—adapt, fix, and keep moving forward.

We’re getting close to go-time. Wheat seed is coming soon, and planting season is right around the corner