How far advanced SEEDING are you?

[BennyHin]

I'll second AdamSmith's suggestion that you'll lose less money buy not seeding versus mucking it in too late in the crop year.

I would only continue to seed if I had previously purchased my fertilizer at last fall's lower prices and couldnt swing a deal to re-sell it back to them at the higher prices, or have the ability to store it until fall or spring. (i.e cant store NH3 on the farm)

I hope "Canada's New Government" works out a disaster program with the provinces for you guys in the worst hit areas. I've been in your sutiation many times before. With today's input costs, we need a predicable federal-provincial disaster program for these situations.

[BennyHin]

Hi Benny. The thing is, I don't want a disaster assistance program. All we all need is a crop insurance program that works properly. IE. My average canola yield for crop insurance is around 36. Now why can't I be insured for that number X 80%, less my average input cost per acre, plus the summerfallowing costs? The 50 bucks is peanuts. I should be able to be insured for what my farm could have produced, just as if I had seeded it and lost it to frost in August, which is no less beyond my control than saturated soil. I'd pay a higher premium to get this benefit easily enough. That is all I ask for. A responsive, comprehensive, and predictable crop insurance program, that is all I need. Screw CAIS, screw NISA 2, and screw ad-hoc garbage. If my premium is 12 bucks an acre, so be it. It would be a small price to pay, knowing I am actually covered...Cheaper for governments to boot. Imagine that, a farmer having control over his destiny, with little government intervention!

[skhadenuf]

I agree cwbcostme$$$, we need one good program not a variety of programs of which none are really working except for all of those gov. employees. However there would have to be some major changes to a good crop insurance program for example on those years where you have a total wipe out your average and coverage begin to make the program useless ie the same problem with Cais. Cais would have worked for many more people had there been a more reasonable way to restore margins and been more responsive. The money that is being wasted on all those extra employees and ad hoc payments that aren't amounting to much could have gone a long way to pay for premiums toward one good program. As far as paying the 12 bucks an acre we are near that level for Sask Crop Insurance canola premium for coverage but the coverage is brutal because of the recent disasters in our averages. I really think there is merit for creating the one good program and have a level playing field for all provinces having the same program, this would require the feds controling the program and not the provinces. Just look at canola coverage here in Sask at average 140 per acre at 10 bucks premium while Manitoba has 225 bucks an acre coverage for I believe it was 8 bucks or so (correct me if wrong, can,t remember the number) No way there should be that difference, but our NDP ers here still want to pump money into unions instead of agriculture. Our NDP mentality is we have more disasters here so pay more premium and have less coverage. AHHH DUHHH what's going to happen to rural Sask compared to rural Manitoba!! Oh yeah I forgot Al Gore and The Rolling Stones concerts will make us feel so good about ourselves that we'll just forget Manitoba producers are going to get 70 bucks an acre more payout should they get froze in the fall due to late seeded crop compared to us. Something for all of us to think about that have all those acres yet to go in the ground likely into June.

[SASKFARMER3]

I agree the two things we need are.
1 one crop insurance program right across Canada no Quebec Alberta Sask Man.
One program Area average yes but also a risk factor calculation like when Rose town had 4 drought years with no yield brought back to normal.
Nisa2 that could be used for price drops or major disasters.
If we would have a decent Crop Insurance program a lot of my neighbors would still be farming. Not selling out to foreigners etc. What almost killed our farm wasn't low prices it was the frost drought frost flood flood that almost sunk us. But our stupid liberals and NDP wanted to study it some more. Ralph still doesn't get it. And Lorne Calvert he is just living in LA LA Land.

[kamichel]

Costme. If you have excessive straw you may need to burn it if cannot even get on the land to harrow. Burning although a dirty job will dry out a field, and allow sun and wind to get to the soil.
About 8 years ago we had a very dry year and I also planted my Invigor canola too deep so I ended up Chemfallowing it. Turned out there was roundup resistant seeds in that certified invigor seed. Apparently that is normal to have some roundup resistant seeds in the invigor seed. They may be resistant to both invigor and roundup at the same time, comes from cross polination.

[kamichel]

I would burn, but it won't anymore, because on Saturday, when the forecast was for 1mm of rain, I harrowed a few hundred acres, which helped dry it a bit, but it knocked all the straw down, flat as a pancake, and now its drinking from the soil below! I was going to be rolling on monday, but the millimeter turned into about 60mm.

I did get my half of winter wheat fertilized on Monday too, so hopefully that will be a good crop.

[dalek]

Eastern Ontario report

Barley's been in a month and up for 3 weeks. Finished planting corn Tuesday and soybeans today, should finish spraying the corn Monday or Tuesday and start cutting alfalfa Wednesday or Thursday. Winter wheat that survived the winter looks good, tore up about 30% and switched it to corn. Some in the neighbourhood is starting to head out, ours will next week. We've had one rainfall, about an inch, in the last 5 weeks. Very dry. Hit 30 degrees here Thursday and Friday.