Weather helps farmers catch up to five-year average in seeding

Decent weather in Saskatchewan last week allowed farmers to make significant progress in terms of seeding.

As of Thursday, 51 per cent of the crop had been planted, up from 18 per cent the previous week. The five-year average for this time of year is 51 per cent.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 74 per cent of the crop is seeded in the southwest region, 59 per cent is seeded in the west-central area, 57 per cent is in the ground in the southeast, 38 per cent is planted in the northwest, 32 per cent is in in the east-central region, and 26 per cent is in the ground in the northeast.

Among crops, 82 per cent of field peas, 78 per cent of lentils, 71 per cent of durum, 69 per cent of chickpeas, 51 per cent of spring wheat, 42 per cent of barley and 38 per cent of canola have been seeded to date.

The dry conditions also were beneficial for producers with 2019 crop left to harvest.