Well, what a year. I know that everyone laughs when farmers complain about the weather, but come on! This spring was so incredibly dry that we were seeding into dust. In some fields we had weeks and weeks of zero germination. What weeds were already in the ground took advantage of any spring moisture and started to grow. The crops never had a chance to germinate and outgrow the weeds so we had some pretty dirty crops. The summer again was terribly dry and we ended up plowing under several fields. What fields we left to mature did not produce well at all. The quality of the grain was very good...good levels of protein that help the bakers, but the yields were less than half of normal. Not good. Then we had some terrible storms this summer...winds at close to 100 km/h and hail. Then another wind storm this fall that blew the swaths all over the place. Now we are in the middle of october and it won't dry up enough to finish with the harvest. I have very little left to combine, but I do have hay laying in windrows that I need to get baled. I am not sure if we will be able to or not? I can see around our area that there are many farmers who are a lot worse off than I am. There are still thousands of acres of crops out in the field west of Edmonton.
I will be glad when 2009 is over from a farming perspective. Whatever 2010 has in store for us farmers, I can't see it being any worse.
Just came across your blog, looks like some interesting reading!
ReplyDeleteI am wondering if you grow spelt (heritage wheat variety)? I am on the look-out for spelt growers as I cannot eat wheat but can eat some of the ancient grain wheat varieties. We prefer to grind our own grain and buy direct from farmers.
It is funny you bring up spelt because I am planning to grow spelt for next year. I am purchasing seed this year and will sow some acreage to spelt.
ReplyDeleteWe are working on ways to supply grains directly to people. We have sold bags of grain to individuals and we also supply grains to Homegrown Foods in Stony Plain, AB where it is sold at retail.