Inch of rain needed for Sask. farmers

City-dwellers may be sad the sun has gone away, but the wet weather is good news for Saskatchewan farmers as the southern half of the province is likely to see rain this week.

Agriculture Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) president Norm Hall said 25 millimetres – one inch – of water would help kick-start the crops farmers hope to have in the ground before the end of the month.

“A short delay to get enough moisture to get the crop germinating would be what everybody wants right now,” he said. 

“Don’t want to have too much moisture because (producers) don’t want to be sitting too long. Guys would want about an inch right now and another inch in a week or 10 days.”

Hall said western Saskatchewan farmers are experiencing the driest conditions and could accept up to two inches of rain if Mother Nature provided it.

Shaunavon, Swift Current, Moose Jaw and Assiniboia areas were all under rainfall warnings because a low pressure system out of Wyoming could bring 50 to 80 mm of rain to the southwest corner of the province in the next two days.

Rain will be heaviest Monday night and Wednesday morning, and flooding is possible in low-laying areas.

The system will move into Manitoba by Wednesday evening, meaning parched Alberta won’t receive any of the water to combat the huge fire near Fort McMurray.

Other areas further east like Wynyard have subsurface moisture from the fall and could do fine with 12cm, Hall said.