More rain coming for Ont. producers

Apr 30, 2019

Some areas could get up to 40 mm of rain by Thursday morning

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Mother Nature is planning to cover several Ontario counties with a significant amount of rain over the next few days.

Environment Canada issued special weather statements for nearly 20 regions warning of between 20 and 40 mm (0.7 and 1.6 inches) of rain between Tuesday evening and Thursday morning.

“The ground has limited ability to absorb further rainfall,” the warnings say for many areas.

Melting snow and ice pellets could also be part of the equation in some communities.

For farmers, these weather statements mean further delays.

Doug Virtue, a cash crop producer from Bruce County, isn’t behind yet. But he thinks he might be once the rain event passes through.

“There’s not much happening around here because the fields are already too wet to think about going near and there’s no heat to warm anything up,” he told Farms.com. “We usually plant our corn in the first week of May. We’re not behind yet but it might be at least a week before we can touch anything around here.”

Ron Peare, a cash cropper from Hamilton-Wentworth, echoed Virtue’s thoughts.

“We’re not behind now but I think we will be once we try to get started,” he told Farms.com. “Everything is too wet, and we can’t get into the fields. All we can do is wait.”

Other growers, like Erica Murray, a cash crop grower from Huron County, have been able to do some spring field work despite the wet conditions.

But after the rain falls, farmers will be challenged to finish planting within a shorter window.

“When the weather clears we still have to get the crop in the ground,” she told Farms.com. “That could mean we put in longer hours to catch up for lost time.”

Weather challenges have been the topic of conversation in her circle of grower colleagues, she said.

Wiyada Arunwaikit/iStock/Getty Images Plus photo

Video: How farmers are protecting the soil and our food security | DW Documentary

For a long time, soil was all but ignored. But for years, the valuable humus layer has been thinning. Farmers in Brandenburg are clearly feeling the effects of this on their sandy fields. Many are now taking steps to prepare their farms for the future.

Years of drought, record rainfall and failed harvests: we are becoming increasingly aware of how sensitively our environment reacts to extreme weather conditions. Farmers' livelihoods are at stake. So is the ability of consumers to afford food.

For a few years now, agriculture that focuses solely on maximum yields has been regarded with increasing skepticism. It is becoming more and more clear just how dependent we are on healthy soils.

Brandenburg is the federal state with the worst soil quality in Germany. The already thin, fertile humus layer has been shrinking for decades. Researchers and farmers who are keen to experiment are combating these developments and looking for solutions. Priority is being given to building up the humus layer, which consists of microorganisms and fungi, as well as springtails, small worms and centipedes.

For Lena and Philipp Adler, two young vegetable farmers, the tiny soil creatures are invaluable helpers. On their three-hectare organic farm, they rely on simple, mechanical weed control, fallow areas where the soil can recover, and diversity. Conventional farmer Mark Dümichen also does everything he can to protect soil life on his land. For years, he has not tilled the soil after the harvest and sows directly into the field. His yields have stabilized since he began to work this way.

Isabella Krause from Regionalwert AG Berlin-Brandenburg is convinced after the experiences of the last hot summers that new crops will thrive on Brandenburg's fields in the long term. She has founded a network of farmers who are promoting the cultivation of chickpeas with support from the scientific community.