Latest news with #TIMSMITH
Winnipeg Free Press
24-05-2025
- Climate
- Winnipeg Free Press
Provincial seeding progress ahead of 5-year average despite rain delay
Opinion It was common to see quads and ATVs temporarily replacing seeding equipment on many fields across southern Manitoba after heavy rains over the Victoria Day weekend. Driving across farm fields with these types of recreational vehicles is usually discouraged because of the ruts they make and the damage they cause to a growing crop. But these operators were making tracks on purpose as they crisscrossed the field connecting puddled low spots to get the water moving towards drainage ditches. In a lot of cases however, the exercise was arguably more about using up anxious energy and having something to do while being sidelined from seeding operations for up to six days. TIM SMITH / BRANDON SUN Farm land along Grand Valley Road in the Assiniboine River valley, west of Brandon. From one day to the next, the pools of water largely disappeared into the thirsty fields on their own. Those rains were a godsend, bringing provincial averages for precipitation this far into the growing season to normal or above in a few short days. But like everything with the weather these days, there was a wide variation in how much fell across different regions. The province's weekly crop report says the Morden area was the wettest over the stormy weekend, having received 88.5 millimetres. Less than an hour's drive west, however, Pilot Mound received only 21.1 mm. Overall, since May 1, southwestern Manitoba and central regions have now received 150 per cent of normal, based on the 30-year-average. Eastern Manitoba remains abnormally dry, as evidenced by the continued threat from wildfires. The area around Elma, for example, received only 3.2 mm. The province says the eastern region and many areas of the Interlake have received accumulations that are less than 70 per cent of normal. Extension staff on the province's weekly webinar also discussed the wacky temperatures so far this spring. The Petersfield weather station recorded a scorching 37.9 C on May 7, making it the provincial hot spot. Arborg saw the biggest daily swing in temperature range, going from a high of 30 C to a low of 0.2 C, but many areas saw variations almost as extreme. As of May 19, parts of southwestern Manitoba had already experienced six days of temperatures above 30 C. The long-range forecast is for hotter-than-average temperatures over the next month. Yet night-time lows across the province this week were still dipping into the risk-of-frost zone. The province has recently updated data showing the average dates of last spring frosts and the first frost of the fall, which is a measure of the growing season's length. Even though this week's night-time lows flirted with frost, agricultural meteorologist Alison Sass says the longer-term trends indicate the growing season is expanding. As beneficial as a longer frost-free season might be for yield potential and types of crops farmers here can grow, it their operating windows for getting crucial jobs done appear anecdotally at least, to be getting narrower. Weekday Evenings Today's must-read stories and a roundup of the day's headlines, delivered every evening. Extension staff are also monitoring wind speeds, tracking the number of weather stations showing days when winds exceed 50 kilometres per hour, which affects field operations generally but typically puts a kibosh onto any efforts to spray weeds. Gusts have topped 96 km/h in some areas, which is strong enough to move soil. Despite the setbacks due to rain and occasionally wind, Manitoba farmers are past the halfway mark of getting this year's crop planted, with provincial seeding progress ranked at 57 per cent complete as of this week's crop report on May 19. That's well ahead of the five-year average of 45 per cent for the same period. Observers have noticed wheat popping out of the ground has an unusually yellow tinge, which could be evidence the emerging crops are feeling hot-cold flashes and excessively wet conditions. It's too to say whether yields will be affected. Under the right conditions, crops have a remarkable ability to grow through early stress. It all makes you wonder, though, whether we will have to modify how we use 'normal' and 'average' in comparison to changing conditions that are anything but as we yo-yo between extremes. Laura Rance is executive editor, production content lead for Glacier FarmMedia. She can be reached at lrance@ Laura RanceColumnist Laura Rance is editorial director at Farm Business Communications. Read full biography Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
17-05-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘Completely blindsided us'
Cottagers and business owners are angry after Parks Canada flip-flopped and announced a motorized boat ban on Clear Lake this summer to help prevent the spread of zebra mussels. Parks Canada said Friday it made the 'difficult decision' to restrict the use of motorized watercraft in the Riding Mountain National Park lake in 2025. 'This approach is a continuation of Parks Canada's attempts to reduce zebra mussel spread in Clear Lake and the potential damage that may be caused to downstream water bodies and related infrastructure,' the government agency said in a bulletin. TIM SMITH / THE BRANDON SUN FILES Kayakers paddle through the cool water of Clear Lake while a boat passes behind them in Riding Mountain National Park on a hot Thursday in 2023. Scenes like this will not take place this summer as the federal government has banned boats from Clear Lake for the 2025 season. The federal government said in January watercraft, including motorized vessels, would be permitted, as long as they were only used in Clear Lake. That edict was reversed Friday. People are allowed to use non-motorized watercraft — including kayaks and canoes — provided they have an annual permit for use only on Clear Lake or other bodies of water in Riding Mountain National Park. The bulletin said all non-motorized watercraft, fishing equipment, wetsuits and inflatables would have to be inspected. The lake was closed to all watercraft in the summer of 2024. In January, the federal government announced a 'one boat, one lake' policy for Clear Lake, the same policy that was adopted in 2023. Parks Canada said at the time that decision was made after determining it was no longer feasible to attempt to eradicate zebra mussels because they had spread past the lake's marina. The policy change prompted anger Friday. Kelsey Connor, president of the Clear Lake Marina, which offers boat rentals and cruises on the Martese ship, said Parks Canada told him about the reversal an hour before the public release went out. 'This news has completely blindsided us,' he said. 'We were planning to open our business in the coming days. We've hired dozens of excited, eager staff for the summer, made bookings and reservations for families and groups on the Martese, and spent significant sums of capital preparing to reopen the business for 2025.' Connor said his company lost money when the lake was closed in 2024, and they were hoping to bounce back this year. 'Parks Canada managers and staff have straight up lied to and misled me over the phone, face to face, and eye to eye leading up to this announcement,' he said. 'No warning. No heads up. No reasoning. Now what… I must ruminate on this until Tuesday when Parks Canada staff are back at work. I sure hope that they have a great long weekend. Frankly, I'm disgusted with the Parks Canada organization and those who conduct it.' A local Parks Canada official referred questions to officials in Ottawa. No one from Ottawa responded before deadline. Tory MP Dan Mazier, who represents the Riding Mountain riding, which includes the park, called the decision unacceptable. 'Earlier this year, Parks Canada indicated the ban would be lifted, yet now, with no warning or clear explanation, they've reversed course during one of the busiest weekends of the year…. the constant flip-flopping has created chaos and deep uncertainty in a community that deserves timely answers — not surprise announcements buried on a holiday weekend,' Mazier said in a statement. Mazier vowed to bring the matter up with newly appointed federal Environment and Climate Change Minister Julie Dabrusin. Cottager David Bastable said he held off paying thousands of dollars to buy a boat until Parks Canada announced motorized watercraft would be allowed this summer. 'They said one boat, one lake and literally the next week I bought the boat,' Bastable said. 'We were so excited. The kids couldn't even use the kayaks and paddleboat we bought last year. 'I probably spent six grand on accessories alone to go with the boat, including insurance for the boat and the trailer, and then they changed their decision. Now I'm wondering if I'm going to sell the boat. It is so ridiculous — the zebra mussels are already in the lake.' Bastable blames Parks Canada for helping to spread zebra mussels last summer because, at first it told people they could swim and use flotation devices only around the marina — where the aquatic pests were first found — before telling people that was the only place they couldn't use them. 'So people ended up going all over the lake. This couldn't have been managed worse.' Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Another cottager, Kyle Bazylo, said he doesn't own a boat, but he empathizes with people who do. 'People last year with boats didn't even come back to their cottages last year,' Bazylo said. 'People thought this year it would be back to normal, but it isn't. 'It was disappointing last year, but at least we knew what was happening so we adapted to it, but this has come at the last minute… between last year and now this, you lose complete faith in the park and the government.' Parks Canada had said it engaged with stakeholders, Indigenous partners and the public on how to best manage water activities at Clear Lake in 2025. Kevin RollasonReporter Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press's city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin. Every piece of reporting Kevin produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
