THURSDAY, JULY 17, 2014
VOL. 92 | NO. 29 | $4.25
First frost dates pushed back | P66
SERVING WESTERN CANADIAN FARM FAMILIES SINCE 1923
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WWW.PRODUCER.COM
Cooper of Decatur, Texas, jumps from his horse during the tie-down roping CALGARY STAMPEDE ACTION | Clint competition at the Calgary Stampede Rodeo, July 7. The Stampede ran July 4-13.
CROPS | FLOODING
Flood makes mess in Manitoba
FOR MORE PHOTOS, SEE PAGE 5.
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JUSTINA CONTENTI PHOTO
Crops in chaos as floodwaters recede BY ED WHITE WINNIPEG BUREAU
SEE FLOOD MAKES MESS, PAGE 2
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BEES | NEONICOTINOIDS
JULY 17, 2014 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Box 2500, Stn. Main, Saskatoon, SK. S7K 2C4
Ontario plans to limit neonic seed treatments BY JEFFREY CARTER FOR THE WESTERN PRODUCER
RIDGETOWN, Ont. — Ontario could become the first jurisdiction in North America to limit neonicotinoid seed treatment use if the province’s agriculture minister holds to a statement issued last week. SEE ONTARIO MAY LIMIT NEONICS, PAGE 2
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The Western Producer is published in Saskatoon by Western Producer Publications, which is owned by GVIC Communications Corp. Publisher: Shaun Jessome Publications Mail Agreement No. 40069240
SOURIS, Man. — Farms in this area are a mess. And that’s making this year seem worse to many local farmers than 2011, when most seeded zero acres. Farmers are generally stuck with two types of crops: rotten-looking seeded crops, some of which are OK and others that are saturated and drowned, and massive weed flushes that need to be controlled. “It’s wet. It’s dirty. It’s going to have to be sprayed. It’s going to have to be cleaned up. It’s a big job,” said Sheldon Betker, who farms northwest of Souris and only got half his 2,700 acres seeded. One of Walter Finlay’s planned canola fields has a lush crop growing right now, but most fields were not seeded and are now a mix of volunteer oats and bulrushes. “I likely would have been ahead to have not sowed it,” he said of the 850 of his 2,900 acres he managed to seed. Like most farmers around here, catastrophic saturation has made recent years difficult. The 2011 growing season was an epically bad one that took another year to clean up. Good crops last year aren’t enough for most farmers to make up for two lost years in the last five. Jamie Kohut, a mixed grain and cattle producer who farms south of Souris on usually drier land, should be reaping rewards from high prices for calves from his 240-cow herd this year. However, a lot of those potential gains are being spent on renting pastures for 130 of the cows because much of his own land is too wet for the animals. “It’s all under water,” he said. “You can’t see the fence posts.” He managed to get most of his 1,400 acres seeded, but about 300 of those are now drowned out. Getting them seeded has meant he’s had to try to spray them, which is another troublesome situation for a poor-looking crop.