Play ball

Forgive the corny analogy, but in many ways, Crop Production Week and the corresponding Western Canadian Crop Production Show can be likened to a baseball game. Thousands of producers are flocking to the trade show and to the meetings in Saskatoon this week just like the crowds gather for a ball game. Nine months from now, the 2011 growing season will be in the history books, unless it goes to extra innings, which can sometimes happen. One of the biggest threats is that the game will have to be called on account of wet weather. It’ll be a few months (innings) before producers know their situation for sure, but many may again be facing fields that are too wet to play ball. On the land where a crop can be seeded, there’s going to be more temptation than usual to swing for the fence. With lots of moisture, there’s an incentive to use higher rates of fertilizer. There’s also more interest than usual in fungicides. The wet weather of 2010 produced record disease levels within many crops. Producers are likely to invest more money on preventing double header losses. With the good outlook, many producers will be looking to bolster their equipment bullpen and will be kicking tires at the Crop Show.  Players want to tag all the bases. I’m Kevin Hursh.