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No seed in ground on my farm yet. You?

26K views 82 replies 49 participants last post by  gleaner l 
#1 ·
Some seeding has happened on sandy areas by Chelan and a few other places but minimal. NH3 movement has been slow so far I have been told but hopefully that will change soon. Next to nothing applied last fall so once things take off there will be a shortage gauranteed. Not a question of if, but when. Last rain here made fields in my area made 3/10" look like 3" Ground is full here. Still waiting on crop insurance to assess wildlife damage and trying to still combine. I went til 12:30 the other night and buried the combine and then the rain came 2 min later. I had a couple fields that I worked the ruts out of last year that were close to getting ready to seed but would be going around wet areas still. The days on the calendar keep going by and am starting to get anxiety here. Maybe I shouldn't be nervous but am. One thing I do know is if it's going to be another year like last year I am better off not putting the seed in the ground. Last 2 yrs here have hit hard in my area.
 
#5 ·
We have been lucky enough to get 300 acres done on some of our lighter better drained land. Were hoping to spray some at the start of this week but too wet now. Hadn't had any precip since mid-late March, whenever that blizzard was, and wasn't much. Everything has been clear of snow since late February except for snow banks and was looking to be drying up nicely. Got an inch of rain Sunday night and now all the creeks and ditches are running and water laying around almost like spring again. Guess that's what happens when you get excess moisture for 15 years! Have one quarter that dries up better that might be able to get some fertilizer on tomorrow. I don't get too excited any more, didn't even pre-buy any fertilizer or anything last fall or this spring. If it stays too wet, F it, take the crop insurance and be better off. Have tried farming enough wet years to know mudding in a crop doesn't pay any bills, at least I won't be out the inputs this year.
 
#6 ·
Tried harrowing a 1/4 on Sat , diseased out lentils , did the headlands not too bad , abit wet in the draws , fairly flat land , started crossing the field got stuck , neighbour came and pulled me out , hadn't even left the field stuck a 2nd time , pulled me out , thought, well try and stick to the presumably dryer ground , almost got stuck twice then wasn't sure where to even go and 3rd time a charm !! Got neighbour to come back and we both said time to go home , never seen that field like that before !! Got an inch of rain on the weekend , not sure if and/or when that piece will get done !!:sFun_doh2:
 
#10 ·
Put most of the NH3 on last fall making sure to have the ground going into wheat done. Finished NH3 this spring on the heavy land but now too cold to seed canola, and the light ground got a good shot of rain, so I am waiting for warmer weather to either dry out the wheat ground, or start seeding canola.
 
#13 ·
Well I'm hoping to get some barley combined tomorrow if it don't rain as per the forecast. Mostly high ground with little risk of getting stuck but what the deer walked down it kind of soggy, so I won't be really trying to pick it clean. Everyone around here is doing something of somekind, but its still quite wet in most places, guys are seeding what they can get on. Some of the crops still out heck they'll be lucky if its dry enough to drive and pick it up maybe by June,most likely most of that is gonna end up not even being seeded. I was out lastnite with the side delivery rake and the Romanian roadster trying to deal with some straw on underseeded grass that didn't get baled last November, had to be careful not to make ruts in my new hayfields, its that soft where there is ground cover.
 
#15 ·
Just working the land and knifing in some Nh3 around Marshall/Lone Rock /Lashburn SK. Not too many guys rocking yet. Couple guys have peas in.
Back in 1991 when there was a metric F load of snow , seeding didn't start until the 19th of May.
Swathing was within days of normal timing.
 
#16 ·
Well I'm close. Does 1" above ground count. This is a 1" wrench laying on the ground.

Bambi made trails all over my left out wheat. Every hoof print from last fall and this spring is 1-2" deep and the shattered heads and kernels are filling them up. The germ must be 0% as there is not one volunteer growing.

Calling for rain this weekend. Hopefully get started seeding next week after trying to combine or disk this mess.

On a side note has anyone who filed a wildlife damage claim feel it was fair?
 

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#21 ·
Finished combining a couple days ago, hoping to start seeding today. I agree with you that wildlife compensation is a joke this year. My adjuster said that mine was the worst duck goose and deer damage he's ever seen but he couldn't give me any more compensation because the higher ups won't allow it. But he said that the grain that wasn't damaged was better quality than the rest he'd seen this spring so I had to combine it. Now I've got bins with grain with a bunch of excreta in it that I have to clean. I also have a chunk of deer antler stuck in a combine tire just to ad insult to injury. I really feel for you guys still trying to harvest. It wasn't fun.
 
#17 ·
we got rolling a week ago.... even the pulse stubble was a fight, but got it seeded with minimal acreage loss. tried seeding lentils today, wheat stubble is a swampy mess! will be huge unseeded areas left out. maybe not a big loss, likely where the aphanomyces would be most prevalent anyway!!!!!!!!!


the subsoil moisture out there is crazy! just about got drill stuck when folded up pulling into / out of fields several times. then the hired man did a couple days ago, front castor wheels sunk in more than 2 feet!. we have been pulling the unit onto the road allowance to fold up now.......


the amazing thing is that both winter and spring have been relatively dry. and a lot of the "typically" wet spots (from snow melt) are dry, while a lot of areas that have never given any issue will swallow a tractor whole this year!


hope the guys farther north get some dry weather to get rolling soon. we started 2 weeks behind usual and its a big stress. doesn't give you a lot of leeway!
 
#18 ·
Dry as a witch's tit here and nothing really forecast for a week at least. I've gone driving trucks and Dad is keeping the dogs company. Apparently the neighbours did some dry seeding for us, think their workman may have got lost. Wouldn't have thought that possible with the mapping these days.
 
#23 ·
Yes it is scarey what crop insurance has told it's employees. You can never put a statement like unharvestable on a claim. What B.S. My dads barley field left over had a 140 elk graze 140 acres all winter. There were 2 areas likely an acre or 3 that you might get grain to actually come in the hopper. The adjuster did his thing and said I am not supposed to write this down but I am, because it is what it is, and told my dad that nothing he has adjusted is final. It has to be approved at the office . What kind of insurance scam is this supposed to be? What does the guy in the office see in the field from his desk that warrants his approval. They are scrambling to save every dollar they can hose a guy with. The adjuster I had come out last year, saw all my crops as they were heading into winter. He knew what was there then and could plainly see what is there now. I made calls to the office asking to have him do my adjusting yesterday while he was here. It was 10 min before noon and he was here already doing my dads. I phone the toll free number and ended up getting my cousin in Moose Jaw lol. She is with crop insurance. I got her to make a bunch of calls and she told me she left messages to Tisdale office and to the supervisor to call me back. Nothing whatsoever. I have acres I need adjusted before i can disc them down so I can seed. Apparently I have to wait for a guy from Regina to do my claim and is coming today. That's 2 days that I could have been doing something to prepare my land for seeding. What a joke. Not the adjusters fault they just do what they are told.
 
#25 ·
Yes, a contract is binding document, unless it with the government. They just do what they choose and it is not usually in our favor. Deadlines for us are absolute when it comes to sign in, sign out, coverage changes, seeding deadlines, payment deadlines, etc etc. But when it comes to a time urgency on their part, not enough manpower is a valid excuse. Even when it is costing us valuable time and money. I could go on for hours about all the ways AFSC has screwed me over the years. But complaining alone does no good. We ALL would have to get together and stand together against their crooked ways to get anywhere. Remember how GRIP ended? They let everyone out of the premiums early if farmers agreed not to sue them. There were only a handful of us left that legally could sue them then and we were bargained down to 2 of us in the end. Good luck trying to go against the bureaucracy with 2 individuals left. I wish you all the best of luck dealing with government insurance and mother nature!
 
#24 ·
Just got rolling yesterday seeding wheat. This is 30 miles South of Melfort. Plenty wet yet. Most guys have started NH3/Harrowing the high land...still lots of ruts being made. Others are trying to combine what they can. I am lucky only 10 acres out from last year that I will just burn when it is fit.
 
#28 ·
Sask Crop Ins. Always loves to use the "short of man power" line when dealing with claims. Over the last few years I have repeatedly asked for them to check my acres to wet claim when we can still drive around in the crop before it's to big. They never get out till it's to late to drive around. They adjust it from the road.
 
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