Southwest Manitoba received unmanageable amounts of rainfall in May and June 1999 which delayed and prevented seeding. We were able to plant 10% of our crop in late May and another 50% by June 15 when we decided to stop seeding. I will talk about the short term management decisions farmers made, our summerfallow experience, and the effect the wet season had on decisions farmers made this fall.

Zero tillage was a disadvantage in our area this spring. Tilled fields dried out a few days earlier after rain, which meant more crop in before the next rain. It became obvious our tractors would not handle the mud so we rented a Cat Challenger to put in front of our Concord air seeder. My brother’s Flexi-Coil 5000 drill never did seed properly in such wet conditions so we worked together with one 4WD on our sprayer, and one 4WD to pull out the Cat when stuck, which was often. We seeded as shallow as possible with a 2 inch spoon on a 12 inch row space. We were able to seed areas impassable with a half-ton truck and too soft to walk across easily. The tractor we rented has friction rubber drive wheels so when the track filled with mud the tractor stopped moving. This is a big disadvantage, especially when turning. Cat has a cast iron driver, which will not slip but is harder on the track. We were able to seed areas too wet for crop emergence and growth.

Many other ideas were floating around last spring. One neighbour traded his air seeder with packers on a regular cultivator with no packing system. He banded fertilizer ahead of seeding and made good progress with no packers to plug up. His crop was seeded in good time and yielded fairly well.

Some farmers resorted to aerial seeding canola. The cost was about $5.00 per acre plus seed. Unfortunately it was not too successful without timely showers soon after. After June 15 rain became less dependable so aerial seeded fields were quite uneven. Others had canola seeded with floaters and granular applicators supplied by elevator companies. When used on tilled ground and harrowed after the results were reasonable. In some cases later in June I wondered if this was good management or a determined effort by Cargill to ensure grain was produced to cover their financing packages.

After June 10 we cut back our nitrogen to one half rate and eliminated phosphate fertilizer. We returned our expensive hybrid canola seed and cleaned some of our own canola for seed. Cutting cost turned out to be the right move as our later crop was very poor due to disease and frost. The big mistake we made was bothering to seed at all after June 10.

Cowan Farms at Hartney modified their equipment to seed in excessive mud. They added triples to their 4WD and converted a 60 foot Morris deep tiller to a 2 foot row spacing with narrow openers. With no packing emergence was good and the crop filled in well. No fertilizer was placed with the seed. The crop had good yield potential but was devastated by disease, which was no fault of theirs. Cowans also used a V ditcher to drain surface water. While they gained a few acres, the tire tracks, ruts and ditches caused a lot of problems. They have no intention of creating such a mess again.

Another group of neighbours purchased a rotary ditcher. It worked well in soil types where the tractor sunk less than eight inches. They were able to gain quite a few acres of crop. It was of no us in soils like mine where the tractors got stuck easily.

After talking to many farmers, I’ve come to the conclusion our heroic actions were entertaining but for the most part an exercise in futility. The fifty-dollar per acre unseeded acreage payment looks better today than the crop many of us planted.

After packing it in, we turned our attention to summerfallow, which was looking pretty ugly by now. We sprayed it all with Roundup, which was effective except for wild buckwheat. I kept one field of chem-fallow for winter wheat. It became a matter of buckwheat which Gromoxone and Roundup failed to control. Most fields I cultivated twice and used some fall Roundup if necessary. Erosion is a big concern for next spring.

By fall many of us were taking steps to deal with another wet spring. There was an increase in fall tillage and fertilizer banding. Winter wheat acreage increased as did fall seeded dormant canola. There was a marked increase in drainage in southwest Manitoba. This has reinforced the old saying, "Water is for fighting over. Whisky is for drinking."

There is no reason to expect next spring to be anything but normal. I expect drop in zero tillage acreage by as much as 20%, down from the present 80%. Another wet year will lead to rethinking of the large, multi-process seeding units which are capable of seeding, mid-row banding, and applying a few granular herbicides and seed treatments at the same time. These units need two or three tanks and wagons, a few miles of hoses and 200 or so openers, coulters, and other parts at ground level. These units spent last spring sitting in the yard taking a holiday. Simpler units, which seed more acres in the time available, will be needed. Another wet year will mean a big drop in zero till in our area.

I will close by saying I’m looking forward to this spring, pleased that 1999 is behind us.