By Rod Nickel
WINNIPEG, Manitoba, July 29 (Reuters) - Two days of
rainstorms in Saskatchewan, Canada's biggest wheat- and
canola-growing province, may have done more harm to crops than
good, even though farms were parched, a Saskatchewan government
official said on Wednesday.
Much of the province received rain on Monday and Tuesday,
with the capital, Regina, collecting about 90 millimetres (3.5
inches), according to data from the federal environment
department.
High winds and excessive rain amounts "lodged" some wheat
crops and knocked flowers off late-developing canola, said
Shannon Friesen, cropping management specialist at the
Saskatchewan government. Lodging refers to high winds or storms
knocking over crops.
"Unfortunately, this rain would have been nice four or five
weeks ago instead of now," she said.
Parts of the Canadian Prairies have had the driest
conditions in decades, limiting yields in the world's biggest
canola- and durum-exporting country. Grain marketer CWB last
week forecast a sharp drop in yields following a crop tour.
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More positively for farmers, the rain will help fill out
wheat kernels and canola pods, and help replenish soils for next
year, Friesen said.
A tornado hit southwestern Manitoba on Monday and hail has
also punished crops in parts of Saskatchewan and Alberta.
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"These last rains are doing as much damage as they are
helping," said Derek Squair, president of Agri-Trend Marketing,
which provides advice to farmers.
The rains also did not help early-maturing crops such as
peas and lentils as they must be dry before harvesting, Friesen
said.
Some farmers, however, expect to come out ahead from the
storms.
Donovan Hall, who farms near Wishart, Saskatchewan, expects
the rain to fill in his canola pods, lifting yields. Hail missed
his farm and his canola withstood strong wind gusts.
"We're definitely going to get helped a little bit by this,"
he said.
Rains in the next two weeks are most likely in the northern
growing areas of Canada's Prairie provinces, according to
Commodity Weather Group.
(Editing by Peter Galloway)