Storm could have been worse, officials say

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This article was published 18/06/2018 (2138 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Last week’s hail caused extensive crop damage but it could have been worse, provincial officials say.

Hail damage was the biggest concern after last week’s rainstorm. Hail cut a swath from the Saskatchewan border through Elgin, Minto, Waskada and Ninette in southwestern Manitoba, as well as Killarney, Manitou and Morden in Central Manitoba, said Anne Kirk, the provincial cereal crop specialist.

“It pretty much followed Highway 23. Those areas received pretty high damage,” Kirk said.

The silver lining may be there wasn’t much to hit in some cases because plants are still in early stages of development.

“The general rule is the earlier the better when it comes to hail. There’s more damage the more advanced the crop is,” said Kirk, who is based out of the Manitoba Agriculture building in Carman.

It’s hard to assess hail damage for several days to determine if there is regrowth.

“In the early stages, the crop still has potential to send off new tillers from the growing point. As long as the growing point is OK, the crop will regrow,” Kirk said.

The province’s crop insurance office said there were more than 300 claims for hail damage as of about noon on Tuesday.

More claims are expected before the week is out.

Adjusters were out starting on Sunday to assess damage. Extra adjusters have been added to handle the workload, said David Koroscil, manager of claims services for the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation. Claims came in from as far as Winkler.

“I wouldn’t call (the number of claims) excessively high” versus other hail storms, Koroscil said — especially considering there were numerous storms throughout the province.

Where crops have been destroyed, farmers can still reseed, although the crop insurance deadline for reseeding is the end of today.

As for moisture, most of Manitoba’s cultivated acres have caught up in a hurry after an extremely dry May, the province states in its latest crop report.

Precipitation in the Red River Valley, with the exception of a wetter Winnipeg and capital region, is still less than 70 per cent of average since May 1. That also holds true for the south and central Interlake.

Rainfall has also been below 70 per cent of normal in Portage la Prairie and around Lake Manitoba’s south basin, as well as in a pocket that includes Souris and Minto.

However, farms on the Manitoba Escarpment have received average to above average rainfall and some parts of the province are soaked.

That’s the case in much of Western Manitoba, hugging the Saskatchewan border.

Roblin and Russell, for example, have received more than twice the normal amount of precipitation so far.

In The Pas, seeding has been delayed by excess moisture.

There hasn’t been a lot of damage reported, but some crops have yellowed from being too wet.

“As long as those fields dry out, those crops should still be OK,” Kirk said.

“In general, crop conditions are good throughout the province,” she said.

Timi Ojo, the province’s agricultural meteorologist, said surface moisture is definitely high right now.

The greater concern is subsurface moisture three to four feet deep when crops are more mature. “Because they are so young, crop roots have not gone deep down yet,” but they will, said Ojo.

Recent rains have helped recharge lower soil to some degree, he said.

With subsurface moisture depleted, crops need a consistent supply of about half an inch of rain per week, he said.

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca