BRANDON, Man. — It was already shaping up to be a difficult year for hundreds of Manitoba farmers; now last week’s downpour has many wondering whether their entire income for 2014 will be washed out.
Keystone Agriculture Producers estimates as many as 400,000 hectares of crop land were left unseeded due to too much rain this spring and summer.
Of the the 5 million hectares that were seeded, it estimates another 400,000 hectares could now be under water.
Brandon typically gets 80 millimetres of rain in June. This year it was hit with 251 mm, almost three times that, making it the wettest June on record.
KAP said it’s not just crop land that’s impacted — cattle and sheep herds have spent weeks standing and sleeping in muddy, wet pastures, which is causing foot rot.
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