Wet weather nurtures noxious weeds

Crop experts say wet soil conditions across Saskatchewan have led to the proliferation of noxious weeds that aren't usually a problem in the province.

About 12 million acres of Saskatchewan farmland has been left unseeded due tomorerainfall than usual this summer. Only about 77 per cent of farmers, far fewer than the average 96 per cent, managed even to seed a crop it's been so wet.

Various levels of government have pledged around $450 million in aid, but the extended economic impact is expected to exceed $1 billion.

For those who have managed to seed, crop specialist Grant McLean of the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture said foreign weed species such as toadflax, leafy spurge and scentless chamomile have flourished in the wet conditions and threaten to choke regular crop growth.

Such species aren't normally a problem, he said.

"They tend to be very aggressive and have large root masses or be very prolific seed producers and so they can spread or are very tenacious and very difficult to control. And so that makes it a bigger challenge for producers, in addition to the normal weeds that would compete with their crops."

McLean said the wet conditions also make it challenging to get rid of the noxious weeds because it's too wet to get into the fields to apply herbicide.

He urged farmers to be vigilant for new varieties of weeds.

"Oftentimes if you aren't aware that they're a new plant you get a significant population before you recognize that it may be a more difficult weed species to control than the traditional weed species that you deal with."

Meantime, a September frost is giving farmers and market gardeners another disappointment in a long summer of bad weather.

Carol Nye, who runs a greenhouse and market garden near Craven, Sask., said in a normal year she's open until the end of October. But things have been far from normal with wet weather leaving crops to rot. "It's been a lousy year," she said.