Farmer ‘not panicked yet’ but looking for rain in dry spring

While the weather around Regina has beachgoers in high spirits, concern is starting to creep into the minds of farmers.

Environment Canada’s forecast on Wednesday called for temperatures around 30 C and with nothing but sunshine for the next week.

Jake Leguee farms in the Fillmore area. He planted a variety of crops including canola, durum, lentils and peas. He said he was lucky enough that there was quite a bit of moisture in the soil on his land.

“We’re not panicked yet by any means,” he said Wednesday. “There’s lots of time, but if we start looking out past the next two weeks, we’re going to start getting pretty dry if something doesn’t change.”

He said this spring is similar to 2017 when it was hot and dry in May. Luckily for farmers, there was a large rainfall to begin June two years ago, but that doesn’t appear to be the case in 2019.

“It does seem like we’re in a multi-year drought pattern here but it could break at anytime,” Leguee said. “There does seem to be some talk of a wetter, cooler summer but we’ve just got to get there.”

For now, Leguee and his 14,000-acre farm are at the mercy of Mother Nature, noting all he can do as a farmer is be careful with his expenses and wait to see how the crop responds.

“At this point we’d take (rain) pretty much anyway that we could get it,” said Leguee. “I’d love to see a good soaker — an inch or more of rain — but I’d be happy to see anything at this point.”

Seeding continues in many parts of the province, but Leguee said he has been done for a week and a half.

“There’s no rain delays to slow us down. We start planting and we just kind of go right to the end,” said Leguee. “When it does start out later like it has now, it’s sort of after the crop’s in the  ground. There’s really no more decisions to be made.”

The weather hasn’t been the only thing weighing on farmers’ minds this spring. Uncertain trade situations also have been at the forefront this year.

“There have been a lot of challenges this spring,” he said. “It hasn’t been an easy run, but I think as farmers we’re eternal optimists and I hope that things will turn around for us in the next couple of weeks.”