Although the region is about to be walloped by what meteorologists are calling a ‘significant’ snowfall, farmers in southern Manitoba say they’re more concerned about potential flooding this spring.
David Laudin, who farms near Brunkild, Man., southwest of Winnipeg, spoke to 680 CJOB’s Connecting Winnipeg.
“I’m concerned more with the snow that happened down south, with Minnesota and North Dakota — or what they’re calling for,” he said.
“That’s going to fill up the Red River.”
Laudin said April storms remind him of 1997 — the year of the ‘Flood of the Century’ — but noted that the storm this week isn’t forecast to be nearly as devastating.
“It brings back memories of 1997, but I’m hopeful it won’t be as bad, of course,” he said.
“It was a lot heavier, and we had about a foot of snow back then.”
Curtis McRae farms near St. Andrews, north of Winnipeg. He said the late snowfall will undoubtedly delay things — especially as he’s in the middle of calving season with his livestock.
“A nice good blizzard — that does wonders on my body chasing animals all over the place trying to keep them warm,” he said.
After last year’s flooding, however, he said he did something a little different preparing for crops this year.
“With the big delays last year, I actually seeded some crops in the fall time, so if we don’t get flooding, I’m actually a little bit ahead,” he said.
McRae said the cold has kept farmers a little behind schedule, but not to the point where it’ll drastically effect their season.
“I think, ideally, we’re running out of snow at this time of year and we can get to some of the equipment that needs some work on it, so yeah, there’s a bit of a delay.