(File photo/farmnewsNOW staff)

By Angie Rolheiser

Agriculture Roundup

Agriculture Roundup for Wednesday July 31, 2019

Jul 31, 2019 | 12:00 PM

The Canadian Crop Hail Association says storms across western Canada produced hail as large as tennis balls resulting in severe crop damage in some cases.

The storms occurred almost every day from July 6th to18th.

The association says its member companies are investigating 3,241 claims made by farmers in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan during the time period.

Darryl Tiefenbach of Additional Municipal Hail says the Saskatchewan communities of Eston, Kindersley, Craik, Craven, Balcarres, Indian Head, and Sintaluta had the largest number of reported damages with 1,200 claims.

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Details of a prairie-wide crop tour will be discussed at a farm meeting in Regina.

Senior market analyst with Farmlink Marketing Solutions Neil Townsend said all farmers are invited to hear the results and an analysis.

“We are trying to get a picture of what it looks like out there and what to expect,” Townsend said. “There has been a lot of variable weather this year.”

That meeting takes place at the Royal Hotel on Thursday at 10 a.m. and is free of charge.

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How you stack your hay makes a difference.

Barry Yaremcio, beef and forage specialist at the Alberta Ag-Info Centre, says storage losses from improperly stacked bales can be anywhere from 15 to 20 per cent of the dry matter yield while protein and energy losses can be anywhere from five to 10 per cent.

Before bringing the bales home, Yaremcio recommends mowing the grass that is already present in the feed yard to reduce a lot of the moisture and soil-to-bale contact.

He also recommended leaving two to three feet between the rows of bales, and stacking them from northwest to southeast to allow the prevailing winds to blow through them.

He suggested if covering a stack of bales with a tarp, leave the ends open so air can blow between the tarp and bales.