Seeding operations nearing completion across Saskatchewan despite strong winds

It has been a windy few weeks in Saskatchewan, and while it might be annoying to some, it isn’t a major concern for farmers quite yet.

Todd Lewis is the president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan. He also runs a farm near Gray, just outside of Regina.

He’s optimistic about crop yields, even with strong winds throughout most of the province.

“It’s a very similar situation to where we were last year. The rain didn’t come until the last week, 10 days of June, and we still ended up having a pretty good crop,” he explained.

While the topsoil has been dried out significantly by the wind, Lewis believes some rain could easily fix that.

“Farmers are always optimistic this time of year. In the south and central parts of the province, a lot of it is just about moisture, and if we can get a good rain, things will be looking a lot better,” he said.

“We’re sure hoping to see Mother Nature start co-operating now and give us some rain, and we’ll be into a good growing season.”

Despite his positive outlook, he would still prefer if the wind would calm down. Some crops have been affected, and it makes working more difficult.

“Some of the late-seeded canola hasn’t germinated in our area here, so we’re certainly going to need some rain to get it going … Boy, it has sure been a relentless wind, day after day. Really high winds … so it has been a real tough go, just physically being outside and trying to get seed in the ground, working around the air seeders and filling the air drills and so on … It really wears a guy out when the wind’s blowing all the time,” Lewis explained.

Farmers in the northwest area of the province have also dealt with another issue in pests. There have been reports of flea beetles and cutworms.

Sara Tetland, a crops extension specialist with the Ministry of Agriculture, said wind has made spraying more difficult, which can make it tougher to get rid of bugs.

“It’s important for farmers to get out in their fields and do some scouting for these early season pests,” she said.

However, it isn’t all bad news.

“Crops are able to grow out of the stages where they might be affected by flea beetles, and that’s where getting that good weather would really help the crops grow robust and quickly,” she explained.

Forecasts vary across the province.

It’s looking good for farmers in the Regina area, as rain is in the forecast for Saturday night. There’s also a 60 per cent chance of showers every day from Sunday to Wednesday. Showers are in the forecast for Sunday in the Saskatoon area, with some potentially rainy days early next week as well.

Seeding is nearly complete across the province

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 96 per cent of the crop is planted across the province. The five-year average for this time of year is 92 per cent.

The southwest region of the province leads the way at 99 per cent, followed by the southeast (97 per cent), west-central (97 per cent), northwest (95 per cent), northeast (94 per cent) and east-central (93 per cent).

Across the province, 99 per cent of field peas, mustard and chick peas, 98 per cent of durum, lentils and canary seed, 96 per cent of spring wheat, 95 per cent of canola, 94 per cent of flax, 93 per cent of barley and 88 per cent of oats are in the ground.

The lack of moisture helped producers with seeding, but the absence of precipitation and strong winds reduced topsoil moisture conditions in the central and southern regions of the province.

Province-wide, cropland topsoil moisture is rated as one per cent surplus, 65 per cent adequate, 30 per cent short and four per cent very short. Hay and pasture land topsoil moisture is rated as 58 per cent adequate, 32 per cent short and 10 per cent very short.

Some crops in the province already have been damaged by strong winds, dry soil conditions, flea beetles and light frosts in some eastern regions.