CNS Canada — Recent frost that forced farmers to reseed canola fields across a large portion of Western Canada also reached into canola-growing regions of the northern U.S., with production likely taking a hit south of the border as well.
“We’ve had at least 200,000 acres that have been reseeded, and a small number of people are seeding for the third time,” said Barry Coleman, executive director of the Northern Canola Growers Association at Bismarck, N.D.
“This is probably the most severe frost event we’ve ever experienced.”
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The northeastern part of North Dakota was hardest hit by a frost event Sunday, and some farmers are now scrambling to get seed for reseeding.
A frost event earlier in May in the southern part of the state was also still being dealt with.
Coleman said some of the affected areas will likely now be left unseeded and go into the prevent plant program instead. Other area could be seeded to wheat or other grains, but poor prices for such crops make it a choice between “the best of two bad decisions.”
The seeding deadline for full crop insurance coverage for canola in northeastern North Dakota is Friday (June 5), but Coleman said producers would still seed until June 15.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has forecast total U.S. canola area for 2015 at 1.55 million acres, down from the 1.71 million planted the previous year. Of that total, North Dakota alone was expected to account for 1.2 million.
— Phil Franz-Warkentin writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.
