CORNWALL, Ontario – The frequent and heavy rain in the Cornwall and SD&G area has raised concerns of local farmers.
Rob McDonald, President of the Glengarry Federation of Agriculture explained that the problem this year is the excat opposite of the challenge farmers faced last season. The drought of 2016 has turned into a deluge this summer.
“Its not going to be beneficial,” he said. “Things are going to be late, because of the rain, thingsd were planted late.”
He said that things were delayed this year because the ground has been so soft. Farmers do not want to take their tractors out into the fields if the ground is soaked with water because of the risk of doing damage.
“If you end up rudding up the field you end up paying for it later,” he said.
McDonald hoped that there would not be an early frost this fall. He said an early frost would be a real blow to crop farmers and those effects could be felt by others.
“Cow farmers are already having trouble getting good quality hay,” he said. “If they can’t get good quality stuff then they have to feed them more grains and protiens which cost more.”
As of writing, local conservation authorites have issued water safety statements about the high water levels. The Moses-Saunders dam set a recordn for the amount of water passing through its gates this summer. At some points over 10, 000 cubic meters of water were passing through the dam per second. All this was due to the heaving rainfall that the region has experienced.
