After Wednesday's excessive storm conditions, crops have experienced widespread damage in the Portage area. Farm production extension specialist Shawn Cabak outlines the extent of the effects.

"I guess Wednesday night's storm produced a wide range of precipitation, anywhere from an inch and three quarters to three inches at MacGregor to six tenths at Oakville, to an inch plus at Portage. We're hearing of yards and trees and some buildings being damaged, requiring extensive cleanup and repair. I guess on the crop side, a lot of crop has been flattened. There's variability on the lodging. There are some crops still standing close to others that were excessively lodged. The variability is a result of the crop type and stage of maturity for the most part. Not only will there be damage from excessive moisture, but disease increases as a result making fungicide use critical."

He adds, "I guess I was out Wednesday night and saw some of the lodging firsthand, and then some of the crops looked like a steamroller went through the fields where they're totally flattened. And other ones right beside each other still standing. So, it all depends on the crop type and stage of maturity as far as the lodging goes."

Shawn CabakCabak explains the term lodging: "A crop that's lodged is bent over. In some cases the stems are bent. And if they're broken, it affects the nutrient circulation through the plant. So, that's where they just don't mature as uniformly as they should, and the grain doesn't fill up properly. If it's early enough, before grain-fill, it will have less impact. The stem gets bent and the crop goes flat on the ground. That's excessive lodging. Partial lodging is when the crop bends and has a lean to it, going partway. So, you don't have as much bending of the stem, or pinching of the stem, I guess, is maybe a better term."

He says there's not much farmers can do now that the storm is over.

"As long as they've had a good fungicide program in place, there probably isn't too much to do right now. For the most part, the window for fungicide application has been missed. For any of those crops that are still in the right stage for an application, with the moisture conditions and humidity we've had, that's ripe for disease to expand. Fungicides are important in those cases."

Cabak notes how much this has affected harvesting.

"Lodging always makes it more difficult for harvesting. But we're still a little ways out. We see the winter cereal starting to ripen. So, we're not too far off for some of those crops. But the spring crops are still up to a month away yet for harvest for the most part. Luckily, any hail in the area... they've released no reports of it. I've heard of hail out in the Brandon area and elsewhere. So, we at least escaped that one for now."

He describes the weather conditions that would favour the current plight of the crops.

"We don't need excessive rain. You still need timely rain to carry the crop through and for it to finish. But storms like last night often do more damage than good. In some cases the moisture's still beneficial. There will still be damage, too, from the water ponds and just too much all at once."

Cabak adds what quality of the crops we can expect following the storm.

"Lodging does have an impact on quality as far as the grains being able to fill properly. It's amazing how much crops can come back even after they've been lodged. But when we get as excessive as lodging as we did Wednesday night, they don't always come back up as much as we want."