Hows your moisture?

[SASKFARMER3]

Were WET WET WET. Started out wet in april then not bad for 4 weeks so got 90% seeded but the last two sections are going to drive me nuts.
stuck only 4 times good flaman tow rope. last week we will be at over 100mm or 4 inches.
still not complaining about rain.
never will just part of farming.

[furrowtickler]

Moisture varies in this area, but as of today it is wet everywhere. I finished sunday morning at 5 a.m. The last 120 ac took us 3 1/2 days. Anywhere from 1" to over 3" within 20 miles of here. Some guys are only 2/3 done out west of Batlleford. This area had excessive rain last fall. Some reseeding may have to happen in canola due to heavy downpours last week. Hope everone gets done by the end of this week, good luck.

[food4u]

South of Saskatoon-- guys are still giving it H--- here trying to get finished when weather permits. We have 450 acres yet on heavy clay soil. Lots of fun. Better playing in mud than blowing dirt.

[coppertop]

We only had a small shower late yesterday afternoon, there was a light breeze all day so things started to dry up. Nobody is in the fields, too wet, so people are trying to get cows out to pasture, turn bulls out etc.

[grassfarmer]

Hey Cowman, I got my potatoes frosted a couple of nights ago - is it still safe to plant tomatos out? Do frosted potatoes recover?

[coppertop]

Tomatoes can't stand much frost. If you plant them, it is a good idea to put some sort of container over each plant at night just as a precaution.

We had frost here two mornings, ice on the vehicle windows but none of the plants were damaged.

My Dad always used to wait to plant tomatoes until after the first new moon in June, he felt that the danger of frost was past by that time.

[cowman]

Not sure about potatoes. I would think they would probably bounce back unless frost was severe.
I always plant tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers with a coffee can(both ends cut out) around them...then simply put a board on top of can if it looks frosty. Most acclimatized plants can survive a light frost if you spray with water pre-dawn and don't let the sun get at them right away.

[NeilS]

Here in the Red River valley near Winnipeg, we have been generally dry this spring, with only 3/4 inch inch each of the last two months.

Last year there was over a half million acres unseeded around here due to rain, and about as much again seeded but not harvested due to total drownout failure. After last years excessive rain, I won't complain about a bit of dry.

Last year also set us up for some good soil moisture reserves, so we are seeing good growth in the crops so far.

AS for potatoes freezing (I am refering to garden potatoes only), three weeks ago we had some up with about two to four leaves and had a frost burn it all off. They have recovered nicely. About ten years ago, a 6 inch snow dump on potatoe plants did the same thing, and that year gave us one of our better potatoe yields. They seem to handle frost OK.

[SASKFARMER3]

Its just wierd since the last 3 inches of rain.
the ground moves when your seeding and you dont dare go on ground you already seeded or you will sink.
shift to 8.9 miles a hour and go then when you start to slow down shift down then shift up and give it again.
thank god only two more quarters and its all in.still better than drought

[grassfarmer]

I'm convinced that on my place heat is currently the limiting factor not moisture. The few days of cool weather last week really stalled the grass but now the heat has returned the grass is really bouncing again. I can monitor the growth really easy as the field the yearlings are in is on a 1.5 day move. They are in "field" 12 now and when you looked back at the regrowth on fields 7-10 a couple of days ago it was doing very little. Tonight it has jumped up and caught up on the earlier fields. This is another advantage of having a planned grazing system - you can monitor the results daily and really see what is going on. The guy that drives around a quarter of permanent graze pasture a couple of times a week would have a tougher job assessing growth and moisture.
We could still use half to an inch a week of moisture though this time of year to maximise potential.

[nicolaas]

grassfarmer, I am curious about the size of your paddocks and how they are fenced? Is it temporary or pernament? how many cows do you put in each paddock? Do you move the water troughs each time you move, or is the water in a central area? Sorry about all the questions, but I like to learn from people with experience in things I'm interested in. It seems you have an good system going.

[food4u]

We finished seeding this pm and now for some warm weather to get thing out of the ground before too much rain comes. Am taking the helper(wife) out for supper to celebrate.