Hi KG!

Next time you cross the prairies, stop in again!

Well, July was very dry (thankfully) tho the damage was mainly done. Crop insurance wrote off our barley last week, planted in June nearing the deadline. Barley matures earlier than wheat and that is why we planted it then, tho the funny thing is the wheat seemed to take the moisture much better. Got the winter wheat mostly in the bin, rather disapointing. Canola will be swathed soon, fields highly variable depending on field condition when planted and drainage. Generally, the crops that are in are below average here, with a few exceptions.

The hay crop... well there is a different story! Cows not going hungry here! Lots of moisture means city lawns grow like crazy and so do hay fields. Some areas that are flooded will be buying that extra hay tho, as interlake and some along the Assiniboine river lost their hay crops to the floods.

Speaking of floods, it is amazing how the rivers have dropped, tho they are still higher than our normal spring run off. The flood was deemed as "1 in 350 yrs" so I guess we can't expect it to go away in a few weeks. End of June and early July was dike building. spent 4 days in town filling and hauling bags (regular and "super bags") and... the dikes didn't even get wet! No rain in the 10 days or so from when we started to the crest was the saviour.

Back to crops, friend tells me his uncle in Swift Current has some of the best crops ever, so there are some that will make up for our regions short fall. I understand the corn crop in the US is under some stress, more so with cotton.

Been too busy to pay Agoracom much attention, or my PF (ouch). Gotta remember to put stops on even when I am ignoring the market. With so many unplanted acres to spray and cultivate, the summer has been busier than usual.

Cheers, PDG'ers!