By Roger White

Wet weather causes havoc with seeding in the area

May 17, 2017 | 2:00 PM

Wet fields and dealing with last year’s crop left in the fields by an early fall snow are continuing to hamper area farmers getting spring seeding in this year.

Last week Saskatchewan Agriculture said that estimates show that 11 per cent of the 2017 crop is now seeded, which was a stark contract to 2016 when 35 per cent of the provinces fields had been seeded.

Producers in the southeast parts of the province have approximately 30 percent of the crop in the ground while 18 per cent has been recorded in the southwest. Saskatchewan Ag reports the average from 2012 to 2016 for seeding for this time of year is 16 per cent.

Darren Soderberg, who has a farm in Medstead, says he has 450 acres in so far this year and there is still plenty to do.

“We’ve got roughly 20 per cent done so far this year,” Soderberg replied. “I also have about 20 per cent of last year’s crop to combine yet too.”

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Soderberg says the snowstorm that blanketed the area in October wreaked havoc with combining crop last year.

“We had around 640 acres in the field last winter and were able to get about 140 combined this spring until the wet weather hit the past few weeks,” he added. “We need plus 15 temperature and drying winds in the worst way now to help us along.”

Jason Loewen, who farms a variety of peas, canola, wheat and barley 60 kilometres northwest of North Battleford, estimated he has about five per cent of his field seeded already.

“We’re one week into it and usually we have 700 to 800 acres done now and we are looking at around 200 at this point,” Loewen stated. “That’s a big discrepancy [from] 25 per cent to five per cent.”

Like Soderberg, Loewen too has a huge crop left to be harvested from last year.

“I’ve got around a thousand acres still left out there,” he sighed. “A few neighbours are coming over to bale it and take it away so I’m basically giving it away because I really don’t have time to do it with seeding underway.”

He said the crop being baled can be used for feed as it has lost most of its grade due to the early snow.

“We lost maybe $300,000 to $400,000 because we lost the grade of the crop left over last year.

Area farmers like Soderberg and Loewen may get relief over the course of the next week as sunshine moves into the area on Thursday and continues until Tuesday with warm temperatures in the 20s.

roger.white@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW