Family farm faces flooding disaster in Manitoba

A Manitoba farm that produces vegetables for Western Canada could lose its entire celery crop to flooding.

Sixty per cent of the fields on theItzke River Farm, nearElie,could be under water by next week.

Owner Astrid Itzke-Meilleur saidmany of the vegetables are a little more than a month away from harvest.

She expects they're going to lose a lot of money.

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"Millions," she said. "Right now it's, scary. We will lose some, it's just going to be a guessing game as to how much."

All of their celery crop, which they supply for western CanadaatLoblaws, Safeway,Sobeyswill go. It's four weeks fromharvest and they'll lose it all, she said.

The farm also producessweet corn andlettuce commercially.

Itzke-Meilleur said the farm was only just recovering from flooding in 2011.

Thedifference between that year and this one is that three years ago, the flooding happened in spring so they didn't plant in those acres.

This time, they've planted the fields and those vegetablewill now rot.

"You've just thrown your money, all your prep money out, and it's gone,"Itzke-Meilleursaid.