With spring rolling into the southeast, farmers are getting ready for the upcoming growing season and all the hardships and rewards that come with it. Seeding season normally happens a bit after snow melts off the ground, with farmers needing a bit of time afterwards so the ground can thaw.
Agrologist with Western Ag and southeast farmer Edgar Hammermeister says that the area isn't all uniform this spring.
"There's a little bit of a gradient to this happening as you go South to North. We didn't seem to have quite as much snow to the South. So we've been a long time without snow in the fields, and things are starting to warm up quite quickly, actually."
Hammermeister says you can see the split most noticeably near Highway 13, with the more northern fields having a bit more snow still on the ground.
Moisture-wise, Hammermeister says the gradient actually flips 90 degrees as the differences show up to the east and west through the southeast.
"There is a West to East gradient that way as well. The closer you get to the Manitoba border, the more moisture they had in the fall. The farmers in that circumstance are set up really quite well for stored moisture. But as you go across through Alameda, Estevan, and then West, it's really patchy as to what type of moisture was received, and we don't have the same stored moisture potential."
Farmers are stuck looking at their fields for now, with growing conditions not quite at the seeding stage yet.
Hammermeister says, depending on what's being grown, farmers could get their seed into the ground somewhat soon.
"Temperature-wise, the cereal crops aren't that worried about how cold it gets. If the field has good trafficability, when the soil is 2°C or warmer, the research indicates there's very little risk of downside. It's far more consistent with maintenance of yield potential rather than waiting until the soil gets really warm."
The biggest thing for farmers is to be ready to go, even though some forecasts are showing a return to nighttime daily temperatures. Hammermeister says farmers could see great returns from a well-timed seeding.
"For anybody who happens to go out and do an early seeding with the cereal, the research shows that it will tolerate some freezing temperatures. If you put the wheat or durum in the ground, it will tolerate some freezing temperatures or close to 0 for quite a long time and still establish really well, as long as you use seed treatment."
Hammermeister says farmers across the southeast are getting amped up, and he wishes them all a productive and safe seeding season once those tractors are rolling.