Seeding operations nearly done in Saskatchewan

Seeding in Saskatchewan is nearing completion, at least in the fields that farmers can work on.

As the Ministry of Agriculture said in last week’s crop report, producers have decided not to seed many fields in eastern Saskatchewan because of standing water and excess moisture. Meanwhile, some fields in the western part of the province are being reseeded because of poor emergence and heavy insect damage.

In the fields that can be seeded, 91 per cent of the crop is in provincewide, up from 76 per cent last week and just behind the five-year average of 97 per cent.

The southwest and west-central areas are 99 per cent seeded, followed by the northwest (97 per cent), northeast (92 per cent), southeast (86 per cent) and east-central (77 per cent).

“More rain is desperately needed in the west-central and southwest regions,” the crop report said. “Producers in these regions are becoming anxious about how much longer their crops can survive without moisture.

“Dry weather allowed for many fields in the east to dry out enough to allow seeding and producers are hopeful that weather will continue to be favourable enough for them to go back out and seed low areas before the seeding window closes.”

Cropland topsoil moisture is rated as six per cent surplus, 56 per cent adequate, 24 per cent short and 14 per cent very short, while hay and pasture land topsoil moisture is rated as three per cent surplus, 57 per cent adequate, 27 per cent short and 13 per cent very short.

Some crops in the province have been damaged by strong winds, frost, drought and insects. Damage caused by flea beetles and cutworms has forced some farmers to reseed their fields.