Frost Free Days.....

[farmaholic]

How many did you get this growing season?

[freewheat]

I do not remember the last spring frost. I am guessing around the 15th to 20th of May. Last night was not a killer frost, but tonight may well be.

So I am guessing about 110 to 115 frost free days. If it does not freeze tonight it will be a reasonably long season. BUT, we are cold and usually damp, so we need all the frost free we can get. Thankfully we are strangely and ironically, not in a very short season zone. It is the rain and cool that make our season drag on and on.

Most of my land is on a minor plateau, higher than the surrounding area by about 100 to 150 feet. Fall frosts tend to stay in the lowlands, so we have a bit of a micro-climate for frost free days. In 2004, most guys got nailed and had canola yield from 0 to 5. Mine went mid 40's. I attribute this to the higher land, and to the treelines and pockets of large bush in my area, which seem to help trap daytime heat a bit. I also farm beside a pretty large lake, and so it does tend to moderate the fall frosts as well.

So to answer the question, about 115 days give or take, which is pretty typical for here.

[farmaholic]

I didn't write down when it froze here in spring but looked up Regina's historical weather record. The one that frosted the canola would have been about the 18-19th of May. If it freezes here tonight, and it sure feels like it will, we will have about 116 days.

Kinda tight for soybeans. But my neighbors aren't dark green anymore they have changed to yellow. Might lose some of the top pods but I haven't checked lately. The good ones are at the bottom anyway.