With up to 10 centimetres of snow expected to fall Wednesday, farmers in Saskatchewan said they’re preparing for a delay in harvest.
Todd Lewis, a farmer from Gray Sask., produces a number of crops, including oil crops like canola and canary, as well as durum wheat and lentils.
He’s harvested about three-quarters of his crops so far, but with heavy rain and snow on the way, the rest will have to wait.
“We’re looking at a week anyway and we’re going to have three days of rain and it takes three or four days to dry up,” Lewis explained.
According to Lewis, it’s not welcome news. He said for farmers during this time of the season, it’s par for the course.
“Once the calendar turns to October, you can usually expect a little bit of snow,” he remembered.
READ MORE: Rain and possibly snow in southern Saskatchewan forecast
Cam Goff, who farms near Hanley, Sask., said he’s one of the fortunate ones.
“We’re not that far from Davidson and they seem to just get hammered every week with large rainfalls,” Goff said.
In west-central Saskatchewan, it’s still too wet for many farmers to make one final push before the snow falls.
“We’ve struggled to work for more than four days in a row. Then a little shower will come through,” said Jeff Simpson, whose farm is situated near Ruthilda, Sask.
“This has been going on all of harvest,” Simpson said.
According to Global Weather Specialist Tiffany Lizée, the snow is not expected to stick around.
“It won’t, the ground is still fairly warm so as that snow hits the ground, it will likely melt,” Lizée explained.
“It may stay a little bit on the ground overnight but not likely.”
Lewis said he hopes in a week’s time, he can get back at it. He said he remains positive he can get his harvest into the bin.
“You try to prepare for the worst, and expect it and if you get better than bad weather you’re happy,” Lewis said.
“I think if we weren’t optimistic, we wouldn’t be farmers.”
Heavy rainfall is also expected, with up to 75 millimetres of rain expected over the next 48 hours.
At Kal Tire, with news of snow in the forecast, staff has been inundated with calls from customers inquiring about winter tires.
According to sales’ Geoff Wiebe, it’s a marker for a new season at the shop – the winter tire change over season.
“The calls are in. There’s usually two or three calls on hold, just about at all times,” he said.
He said the weather forecast has a big effect on when people come in for appointments or to shop for new season tires.
Wiebe said the peak period for snow tire changes falls about six weeks after the first snowfall.
“It’s usually anywhere from Oct.15 to the end of November. By the first few weeks of December, most people have already made the decision either to purchase them or not to,” Wiebe explained.
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Ryan Kessler contributed to this story
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