It's fair to say all this snow and cold is not good for area farmers looking to bring in their crops.

Ag Fieldman with Vulcan County, Kelly Malmberg, says some farmers are starting to worry a bit, depending on what they still have in the field.

"Yeah, there's a lot of frustration and desperation out there. Things are getting a little scary. You know it's early October and it's going at least a week for this to smarten up, so now we're in the middle of October. So, yeah. Tough times on the farming front."

Malmberg says the crop at biggest risk in this weather is wheat, with uncertainty over it's grade and overall worth with each day it sits in the snow and cold.

He says canola and field peas can handle the cold and snow, and most of the barley is either in the bin or ok on the ground.

"There's not a lot of it (barley) in this area that's going to malt and the feed prices are pretty strong on barley. So, things are too tough on the barley that's still out there. It's the wheat. There's going to be some grade loss and I've also heard from guys saying they've already seen some sprouting going. So that's where you're going right into feed value and that's where the value comes down."

Malmberg says this isn't the first time farmers have had to delay harvest for bad weather.

But he's quick to point out it's been about 15 or more years since he's seen it this bad at this time of year.

 

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