As I write this, the furnace kicked in. We should be wearing shorts and flip flops, not jeans, socks, and sweatshirts. Last week was a disaster. We ended up with 65.6 mm (2.6in) of rain at the Station and just a wee bit more at home. We are now double our normal rainfall for May. I will admit if the sun and heat appear things will grow quickly. We are frustrated and feeling defeated. The weather takes a toll on farmers. No matter how many times you tell yourself that there is nothing you can do about it – you still beat yourself up. All the tasks are difficult with this much water around. Many jobs are just not possible. I am still wanting to spread fertilizer on our hay fields, but you make ruts driving with a side by side you can just imagine what would happen with a big tractor and five tons of fertilizer. I moved my cows out of the yard but with the rain last week they are quickly beating up the new area. But at least it is not as deep and there is a big enough area that they can get out of mud. I think we are raising some of the hardiest calves ever since they have been battling wet, mud and such mixed weather through the winter months. It has been challenging the producers that are calving currently. Like we have said, there is no perfect time to calve out cows, but the weather has so much to do with it, no matter the time of year.
The Research Station is struggling just the same. We decided to try and tackle the grass wet or not. We know the place is looking rough, but we will do our best to get things back in shape. We are still planning to keep planting, but it must be a lot drier than it is currently. I am not sure what we will have on the area next to the highway since the water is just not getting away. To say this is challenging is an understatement.
On a happier note, our Emo/Devlin beef club held their first meeting last week. It was great to be around a young, energetic 4-H members. They had some excellent suggestions on what they would like to learn about in this upcoming year. The 4-H members must enter what 4-H animal they are showing by June 1. This is a provincial deadline.
My mom and I did a couple of shifts at the Emo Walleye Tournament selling penny table tickets. Despite miserable weather is seemed as though everyone was having a good time. I would say the fisherman would have been challenged with high, fast-moving water with plenty of debris floating rather quickly down the river. Congratulations to Dylan and Jeff – it was great to see a young team so successful!
My oldest niece turns 18 this week! Ugh, where did the time go? She is off to school this fall to study and continue playing hockey.
I am off to Calgary this week! When I booked this trip I was confidently thinking we would be done seeding and it would be an easier time to get away—!
