Heavy rain and gusty winds hammered parts of southern Manitoba this past weekend and left damaged fields and crops in their wake.
Dan Mazier, president of Manitoba's Keystone Agricultural Producers, a member-funded farm policy group, said while the strong winds mainly spared the fields, heavy rain damaged crops in several pockets of southern Manitioba.
"I'm hearing lots [of damage reports] from south-central and around Winnipeg," he said. "And the Interlake area, hearing lots of horror stories. It's getting pretty wet in there."
Rainfall amounts vary
Mazier said rainfall amounts were highly variable right across the south, ranging from over 100 millimetres in the Killarney area to just 20 mm or less in other areas.
Melita, Killarney and Deloraine were hit with damage, he said.
Environment Canada reported an area just east of Killarney, Man., received more than 100 mm of rain. The town itself received 78 mm, an Environment Canada weather summary states.
Somerset, Man., received 72 mm and Grandview, Man., got 60 mm, Environment Canada reported. The West Hawk Lake area, which is currently dealing with severe flooding, received about 140 mm of rain.
Mazier said while some fields and crops will be able to handle the excess water, it may be too late for others.
"When you have young plants or when you're already saturated and you get more water, it starts cutting off root zones. You start getting drowned-out areas," he said. "It's usually too late to recover from that."
Source : CBC