Seeding proceeding well in Saskatchewan, but dry conditions persist

The precipitation Saskatchewan is expected to receive in the coming days will be welcomed by the province’s farmers, who continue to deal with overly dry conditions.

In the weekly crop report issued Thursday, the Ministry of Agriculture said topsoil moisture conditions are getting worse around the province.

In croplands, topsoil moisture is rated 48 per cent short and 32 per cent very short compared to 20 per cent adequate. Last week, those numbers were 31 per cent adequate, 45 per cent short and 23 per cent very short.

It’s even worse in hay and pasture land, where moisture levels were rated at 50 per cent very short, 36 per cent short and 13 per cent adequate. In the previous week, those ratings were 22 per cent adequate, 45 per cent short and 32 per cent very short.

“Some farmers have halted seeding canola while they wait for rain in the forecast,” the report said. “Others have opted to seed wheat or other cereals instead.

“Very little spraying is happening in the province due to low weed emergence and strong winds making for poor spraying conditions. For many parts of the province where precipitation has been very low, crop germination has been poor and patchy.”

Despite the dry conditions, farmers made significant progress on their seeding over the past week.

According to the ministry, 74 per cent of the crop is now in the ground. That’s well ahead of the five-year average of 48 per cent for this time of year and nearly double last week’s figure of 38 per cent.

The southwest region leads the way at 82 per cent seeded, followed by the southeast (79 per cent), west-central (77 per cent), northwest (77 per cent), east-central (63 per cent) and northeast (63 per cent) areas.

Ninety-three per cent of field peas, 93 per cent of lentils, 83 per cent of durum, 83 per cent of chickpeas, 80 per cent of spring wheat, 78 per cent of canola and 75 per cent of barley have been seeded so far.