Hursh Consulting & Communications Inc.

A producer from north of Yorkton sent me an email about harvest conditions for his operation. He says that without exaggeration there are 50,000 birds in their pea fields right now – fields that are too wet to harvest. He’s displeased by the low level of migratory waterfowl damage that has been assessed by Saskatchewan Crop Insurance saying that he’s spent more money on propane and getting scare cannons that what waterfowl compensation will provide. While the peas are too wet to harvest, he has a 135 acre of field of wheat adjacent to the peas that they’ve been trying to harvest for the past three days. Each day, four to five hours is spent digging and pulling out combines and trucks. They hope to finally finish the field today, but will have to leave about 40 acres that they can’t access. This is a farmer in his late 30s, the future of the industry, but he’s very discouraged saying that if he thought he could sell out this year, he would. He’s still waiting for his $30 an acre payment for flooded out land. While it has been a difficult harvest for everyone, the difficulties in many east central and northeast areas have been extreme. I’m Kevin Hursh.