Concerns about dry weather as seeding continues
While it’s too early to start talking “drought,” an acting cropping management specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture says the dry conditions are a concern.
“Certainly even though most of the province got rain last week, the northwest region missed out on a lot of that,” Shannon Friesen said. “So topsoil moisture conditions are getting quite dry over there. Most of the crop that has been seeded is likely to just sit in the ground until some adequate moisture comes along.
“We do have some subsoil moisture, but it is that topsoil moisture that is lacking in much of the region. So at the moment even though it’s still quite dry there’s still time for that rain to come and improve things.”
The warm, dry weather is allowing seeding to advance. But producers will need a few more weeks yet. The crop report for May 10 to 16 says 53 per cent of the crop is in the ground in the west-central district, a big jump from 26 per cent one week earlier and ahead of the five-year average of 30 per cent. The biggest advance in that area is in district 7B which includes Kerrobert, Macklin, Wilkie and Biggar. Seventy-five per cent of the fields have been seeded there, and some farmers will be done within a week.