The Rural Voice, 1981-02, Page 10Gail and Alex Glanville review the diary they've kept on crop planting and harvest dates and weather conditions so they can compare
fanning in Saskatchewan and Ontario. [Photo by Gibb]
Saskatchewan, a farmer's province
BY ALICE GIBB
Even in the Dirty Thirties, when
drought and dust drove many Saskatche-
wan farmers off their land, they still
harvested crops around Melfort. This
summer, when drought again plagued
the province, the old adage, "it always
rains around Melfort" proved true - a
source of great relief to Alex and Gail
Glanville.
A year ago. the Glanvilles sold their
cash crop farm outside Walton, in
McKillop Township, Huron County, and
decided to tackle a new challenge -a 640
acre farm outside Melfort, a city of
6,200 residents in central Saskatchewan,
south of Prince Albert.
Alex Glanville said he'd always wanted
to do something different, so the couple
decided to make the move while their
three children were still young. Originally
they considered settling in the Peace
River country, then learned about the
Melfort area farm from a neighbour who
was often in the west. The farm offered
rich, black topsoil, no stones and fewer
PG. 8 THE RURAL VOICEIFEBRUARY 1981
weeds than found on many Saskatchewan
farms. It was also located in an area
where the locals assured them the rains
always fell at the right time.
After surviving a dry spring, and
planting and harvesting his first crops,
Alex Glanville has no regrets" about
the family's decision to branch out. The
Glanvilles found their neighbours live up
to the celebrated Western friendliness
and are more than willing to offer good
advice on cropping practices, they like
the province's school system, and per-
haps most of all, the fact, in Alex's
words, that "Saskatchewan is far more a
farmer's province than Ontario."
When the Glanvilles farmed outside
Walton, their main crops were corn,
beans and some rapeseed. In Saskatche-
wan, although researchers are working
on developing varieties which can be
grown for sileage, corn is still very much
an exception rather than the rule. This
summer, Alex Glanville planted 160 acres
of rape, barley, rye, flax and spring
wheat.
He finished spring seeding by May 7,
and harvest by October 7. This year,
some of the Glanville's neighbours, who
anticipated a dry spring and summer,
started sowing in April. But they weren't
overly concerned about the drought
conditions which plagued the south - as
Gail Glanville said, "a lot of them have so
much faith we'll get rain in Melfort, they
never worried."
The Glanvilles weren't quite as opti-
mistic. Their farm recieved one quarter -
inch of rain on May 23rd and not another
drop until a month later, fortunately at a
time when the barley most needed the
moisture. The heavy winter snowfall in
Melfort area does provide a residue of
moisture which stays in the land until the
crops get a start. Windstorms are also far
less a problem here, and Alex Glanville
said farmers in the area seldom get hailed
out -. which means crop insurance rates
are lower than in other parts of the
province.
The Glanville's farm, divided into three