As farmers continue their seeding operations, the latest crop report brings a mix of optimism and caution.
Crop Extension Specialist Tyce Masich says at this point 72 per cent of the provincial crop is now planted; that's an increase of 23 per cent from last week.
He notes it's a smaller increase than the week before, largely due to rain delays in parts of the south and east regions of the province.
"It depends on where you are in the province and how much rainfall you would have gotten," Masich explained. "Most of southern Saskatchewan got a good amount of rainfall, which is definitely welcomed in those areas, especially in the southwest where it is traditionally a bit drier. But in around the Weyburn-Estevan area, they got anywhere between 50 to 120mm of rain. So they'll be out of the fields for quite a few days and they're hoping for things to dry up a little bit so they can get back in the field and wrap up seeding. The further you go north, the drier it gets; the central areas of the province had scattered rainfall, and then the northern parts had very minimal."
"Producers are mainly working on getting their oilseed crops in the ground, such as flax, mustard, and canola," said Masich. "A lot of their pulses and spring cereal crops should already be planted. If not, there might be a few acres here and there that still need to be seeded, but some crops are starting to emerge."
Most of the pulse crops in the province have been seeded. Field peas lead seeding progress by crop type at 92 per cent, followed closely by lentils and chickpeas at 90 per cent and 83 per cent, respectively. Large portions of many spring cereal crops have also been seeded. Triticale and durum lead cereal seeding progress at 87 per cent, followed by spring wheat at 80 per cent and barley at 71 per cent. Canary seed and oat crops lag further behind other cereal crops with 56 per cent and 55 per cent of crops seeded, respectively. Seeding progress for all oilseed crops has now reached the halfway point. Mustard continues to lead seeding progress for oilseed crops at 84 per cent, followed by canola at 58 per cent and flax at 50 per cent. Seeding of soybean and perennial forage crops has made the least progress so far as 31 per cent of these crops have been seeded.
He says on a positive note, "As I'm driving in my area, I see crops are emerging fairly well. So producers again are pretty happy with emergence at this time, but we'll have to see what the coming weeks bring."
Recent rainfall has played a significant role in shaping the seeding operations.
Soil moisture levels are looking promising for crop germination and development. "About 70% of topsoil moisture and cropland is rated as adequate for crop germination and development, which is definitely a good sign for producers," Masich noted. "Despite not getting as much rain as the rest of the province, the central and northern areas of the province topsoil moisture remains in fairly good condition in those areas, but there are a few areas scattered throughout the northwest and along the Alberta-Saskatchewan border that are short of topsoil moisture. Producers are hoping for a good rain to replenish those reserves."
As crops begin to emerge, producers are keeping a close eye on potential issues. "We haven't heard much in terms of insect or disease pressure to crops. Crops are just emerging from the ground and especially in areas that got moisture, emergence is actually looking pretty good. So producers are overall cautiously optimistic, but producers in the North are certainly hoping for more moisture. In the southeast, producers are going to be looking at their fields just to see how things are drying out and if there are any flooding concerns. But again, time will tell and it's too early to tell if there's gonna be any damage from that."
Seeding remains the primary focus for most producers, but many are also busy spraying, land rolling, and picking rocks. Livestock producers are also working on getting animals out to pasture.
To view the complete report and more detailed regional reports click here.