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Melting Alberta snow floods fields

Melting Alberta snow floods fields

One farmer estimates his planting is almost a month behind schedule

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Flooding caused by melting snow has put some Alberta farmers’ seeding plans on hold.

“As far as planting, I think we’re two to three weeks behind,” Ryan Mercer, owner of Mercer Seeds, a seed retailer in Lethbridge County, Alta., told Global News yesterday.

Around the clock operations may be needed to recover the lost time, he added.

With much of the ground frozen, soils can’t absorb the water. So, it runs off into roads and backs up drainage systems.

Lethbridge County declared a state of local emergency on Monday morning and lifted it this morning.

Until the water recedes enough, all farmers like Mercer can do is make the necessary preparations for when field conditions cooperate.

“We’re just trying to be as organized as possible, having the seed in place and having the drills ready to go,” he told Global News. “So when we do actually get in the field we can just get the seed in as fast as we can.”


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The 12-day war between Iran-Israel came to an end sending crude oil futures plunging as the big fund speculators removed the war risk premium.

The weather risk premium in the Ag complex is sending corn, wheat and soybean futures lower on month-end selling ahead of the market moving USDA quarterly grain stocks and acreage reports on June 30th.

Instead, funds were chasing and sending tech stocks higher with the S&P 500/NASDAQ indexes setting new all-time record highs!

June 1 USDA Hogs and pigs report was slightly bearish while the U.S. $ Index traded to new contract lows as the de-dollarization that began in 2014 continues.

Feed in the form of soybean meal futures for livestock producers got cheaper, trading to new contract lows.

The Stats Canada seeded acreage update was bullish canola and wheat.