Farmers have fingers crossed
Published Friday July 3rd, 2009
Wet days | Crops need some sunshine
Strawberry producers are already shaking a fist at the sky and other farmers will likely follow suit if wet, cloudy weather continues to hang around.
With a bumper crop of green strawberries on their plants, damp, sunless days are slowing the ripening process and causing ripe berries to rot on the plants.
But they're not the only ones hurt by June's cool, rainy days.
"Quite a few commodities can be impacted," said Rob English of Crabbe Mountain, who's the president of the Agricultural Alliance of New Brunswick.
The group represents 1,000 farmers in all commodity sectors.
Potatoes, for instance, are susceptible to late blight, which is the nemesis of growers.
"When it's wet, they can't get out and cultivate as frequently," English said.
"They can't even get in the fields."
Grain growers face disease risk due to damp conditions. Last year, Prince Edward Island grain growers had to throw out most of their crop after similar conditions in August turned their grains moldy.
"Vegetable producers if they're on flat or low land are going to have very, very soggy land and that's going to have an impact," he said.
Seed will rot in the ground and fail to germinate from lack of heat. Soggy conditions will drown out plants.
"If the ground stays wet, roots don't have enough air and they suffocate," he said.
Corn is another crop that needs heat in order to grow well. Ditto for hay that needs heat to grow and dry conditions in order to harvest.
Livestock producers will be affected by the rain if hay can't be harvested to feed their animals.
"The strawberry people have had their problems. Raspberries aren't too far behind strawberries and they could be impacted," English said. "We do need a break in the weather before things get really worse.
"If we have a break very soon, most of this will be behind us very quickly ... If we have another couple of weeks of this, that can be pretty bad."
Environment Canada says the last full day of sun - from sunrise to sunset - was June 17.
In June, 101 millimetres of rain fell. That's more than June's average rainfall of 89 mm, but it's not a record. In 1977, 195 millimetres of rain fell during June.
But English said last month was one of the darkest months on record and it was also cooler than usual.
"Both are major damaging issues for the farmer," he said.
Peter Scott, a crop development specialist with the province's Agriculture Department, said field crops such as forages, corn and soybeans need sun. He said it's not so much the amount of rain that's setting back the crops.
"Starting off the season, we had it cool and dry, but we are getting good temperatures, not excessively hot. Growth has been real good. It's just we need some of the sun for the photosynthesis and progress," Scott said.
In Fredericton, Sunset Strawberry U-Pick is opening today for the season.
"Some berries are rotting before they ripen and are slow to ripen when it's raining,'' said Susan Walker of the family-run U-Pick that's been a local fixture for 25 years.
"People are reluctant to come out in the rain. It combines for just a terrible season from a grower's point of view.''
The U-pick is located on Ferris Street, off Sunset Drive on the north side of the St. John River.
There are some nice red berries to be picked and they need to be picked sooner rather than later.
Berries like a 25 C, sunny day and a few of those would perk up the rest of the crop.
Berry prices are running at $1.25 per pound or $2 per quart, she said.
"Most people bring their own containers," she said.
To check out Sunset U-Pick's hours and picking conditions as the days progress, call 459-3183.
The U-pick also grows raspberries and blueberries, which mature later in the summer.
Strawberry season typically runs for the first three weeks of July.
In Silverwood, Kelly's Fernhill Farms strawberry U-Pick is also open. The business is located in Silverwood, 500 metres past the Silverwood school. Call the farm's information line at 450-4163 for times and conditions. Prices are on par with Sunset U-Pick.
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Too much rain one year
Not enough the next
Farmers moan and complain always looking for the tax payer to bail them out.
It gets tiresome.
TMA