Well as the year it didn't rain starts coming to a close and yes the blocking pattern that we have seen is still in place. It started After Nov last year and held all winter spring summer and fall. We need it to finally break and allow some fall moisture into the area to help with refuelling the ground for next year.
Each year has a pattern and this year is Windy Dry Hot and No Rain. Yes it gave two rains one in June and one in August and then little piss ant showers here and their but really its a year where not once did i stand in my yard and smell the sweet smell of rain on the trees and grass and get that smell of dust out of the air.
But it was needed by above picture. We use to seed right to the grid and this corner became known as the Four slough corner as a way to get to our place. Roads were deserted and probably won't be put back into commission as trees grow over in under 15 years. One thing we are noticing is big bush that was flooded for years and now dried out has died this fall.
But would i take the hot summer and complain, yes i started to miss the rain but it was what we needed finally to get the ground back into shape and get our area back doing what it does best growing crops.
On the political side is it just me or do Liberals lie and Cheat the best.
We have a Billionaire who on the surface seems to be not that smart. Oh yea he inherited most of his wealth from his father and his wife is partner in one of canada's most wealthy families.
So you can govern if your a spoiled trust fund brat.
Just because your father did good doesn't make you the same and in the case of Trudeau and his finance minister i think they were both playing and partying while at University and after and have no clue how government works. The first Trudeau i remember almost destroyed western canada the Second is doing a pretty good job at finishing that task.
Ok here it is whats happening on the farm in Eastern Sask.
I would say 99% of crop is off. One guy still doing some very late Oats. Did here north of us a half hour a guy had 1000 acres of Canola both standing and swath thats basically gone. I swath our Goose damaged regrowth and all is gone so no bonus on that.
Most farmers, no actually it seems all farmers in our area are out with either Cultivators, Lemkin or Protill or ?Kelly or Disc or Discers doing fall tillage. Stone pickers are out doing around sloughs that were flooded for years and some like us are doing Landscaping of water runs that over the last number of years have eroded the ground so bad you can't even get across with sprayer or track units.
No drainage is happening just landscaping the sides back and making shitty damaged fields back into production.
This is the original pull dozer.
In the bottom the hill was covered with a foot of top soil that since the 30s had been in the bottom of the ravine in fence line.
Other fields have some wash outs from the 2010 flood that cut a three foot cut for over a quarter mile long. These are filled and sloped back.
we figured the damage cause to equipment over the last 15 years dealing with mud with ruts and washouts is in the thousands. Example hit a sprayer rut with swather that guy doesn't know about and break the bolts that hold header on it drops and bends and almost falls off. Huge damage thanks to excess rain. Beaver is fun but not the wild kind that block streams creeks or even just a simple water run with dams 10 ft high and cut trees that fall into the crop that you have to deal with. Then their is all the Geese that eat and shit and eat and shit and eat some more. They do major damage and this year for some reason its like every pair had 12 or more. One field we lost over 50 acres. So yes rain makes grain but excess does so much damage its unbelievable. This happened gradually in start and then once it was full bore thats when acres never were used for years. Yes some had more rain and one year bad and one good but those who have years of excess rain know what i mean when you look at the sky and wonder will it ever stop. For us it did this year and i do thank god that it actually did. I do appreciate all that happened this year. But is it like those that had a one year flood and then back is this our one year dry and were back to the floods. Would be nice to have normal farming in Canada but like i Learned years ago in Melfort the sure crop area when i was with Ag Canada. Their is no Sure crop area in Canada. Its one of the hardest places in the world to grow a crop in 4 months. 120 days out of 365 really their can be no screw ups along the way. We grew a good one or average this year in canada but it was all on our subsoil from previous years that did it and a constant dry so roots went down. Nothing else gave this not super seed or super fertilizer or crop advisors it was mother nature that did.
So as we seen the other night with 131 km winds at Moosejaw the bitch can throw a punch and she sure does some times. But maybe that was the punch that finally took the blocking pattern out and were back to Some kind of normality.
Im off to Calgary and then BC for a Wedding crop scouting and fire watching all the way. Taking winter clothes as its seems to be snow in them mountains. Congrats to my Niece you picked a good Bison farmer from Northern Alberta. Ok he's a electrician now but some day who knows.
Just imagine how our fathers use to combine with these out in the open late October with winter fast approaching, god they were one tough group. Hug your family its just a crop and be safe as we all wrap up harvest of 2017.
what a beautiful fall ! Cant believe we are all done havesting , fertilizing , fall work and even some ditches cleaned out . What a great feeling . Its been a while ! Got finished combining last year in june/17 and had zero harrowing , fall work or fertilizing done . This is great . Ill bet half the land here is worked and juiced. We have had about 2.5" of rain here since harvest , ground is perfect for working
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