Snow Catch In The Field - Do You Know How Much Moisture Is Out There?

On March 8, 2022 I went out into the fields to gather some data about snow catch and help us get a rough idea of what is happening on Pitura Seeds fields. In fall 2021, Pitura Seeds Farm made the decision to reduce tillage on our cereal and canola stubble fields and, for the first time ever, we sowed an oat cover-crop onto a pea stubble field. These changes were made with the hope to catch more snow and restock the very moisture depleted soils. I wanted to measure the snow catch difference on short soybean stubble versus tall canola regrowth stubble versus a cover-crop field.

As of the end of February, Winnipeg had accumulated over 156 cm of snowfall which put it in third place for highest snowfall year on record. This data is particularly interesting for farmers – especially after a drought in 2021. Everyone seems to be asking the same questions - How much of that snow is being caught on the fields versus blowing off into tree rows and yards? And, how much water is actually held in snowpack on the fields. The only way to find out is by grabbing a shovel, tape measure, and bucket and heading out into the field.

Keep in mind that the sampling procedure for this is not scientifically accurate. The purpose was to get an estimation of a snow depth in the field, calculate a snow to water ratio, and get a little exercise trudging and tripping through 2-3 ft snow drifts. The table below contains my results:

I took 6 depth measurements in each field and collected the snow sample at the last location. Ranges of snow depth in each field are as follows: Soybeans: 3” – 8”, Oat cover-crop: 5.75” – 13.5”, and Canola: 8” – 14.5” (There were points where I sank up to my knees: ~20” or more).

A couple of observations to note: While walking, I was sinking through the snow in the canola field but remaining on top of snow in the soybean or oat field. I was expecting the canola field to have a lower snow to water ratio, despite having caught the greatest snow in depth, because it had a less dense snow pack than the other fields.

There are areas of the fields that have drifts upwards of 3 ft. So, take these results with a grain of salt – there is too much variability to account for and for now, I was keeping it simple.

The final question is…how much of this moisture will actually get into the soil come spring? For now, we will have to see how the spring thaw pans out and hopefully answer that question in a future article.

- Katie Meggison