Murray Wood: Of Easter bunny bells and Juicy Fruit gum
For Murray Wood, Easter brings to mind grandma's practical advice about repurposing, and some of life's little lessons.
Cool, wet weather in Saskatchewan has caused many of the province’s farmers to dramatically increase their use of propane as they race to dry their harvested grains.
Federated Co-Operatives Limited (FCL) Propane Director Keith Morin told 650 CKOM it was the worst the industry had ever been hit. He said the situation had let to struggles keeping up with demand.
“The cool temperatures and amount of moisture we’ve had across the whole province, it’s really caused somewhat unprecedented grain-drying,” he said on Tuesday.
“We’re doing what we can to put resources in place, but it’s tough to do in a short period of time.”
FCL typically delivers propane to farms within 48 hours of an order, but the spike in demand has led to delays of up to 10 days in areas like Melfort.
Morin said there are usually geographical pockets where demand increases due to moisture, but the damp September across the prairies has left a lot more farmers with drenched grain fields.
He said they’re working on hiring more delivery drivers and moving trucks into higher demand areas.
However, he noted the backlogs could get worse if the weather doesn’t improve.
“If the sun starts to shine and temperatures start to rise, we could certainly start to see demand lower and get back to more traditional levels,” Morin said.
A previous draft of this story described a propane “shortage.” This has been corrected to better reflect that the situation is a result of a backlog in deliveries.
