By Brent Bosker

Seeding in the northeast nearly complete

Jun 16, 2011 | 12:49 PM

Farmers in the northeast are packing away their seeding equipment and putting their faith in Mother Nature.

The majority of acres have now been seeded, according to the latest crop report released Thursday by Saskatchewan Agriculture. Ninety-eight per cent of the seed has now been planted.

Grant McLean, a crop specialist with the Ministry of Agriculture, said the average varies from farm to farm.

“There is a fair amount of variation, but not as much as other areas of the province. Certainly I think producers in (the northeast) have managed to get a significant portion of their acres planted,” he said.

McLean said crops in the region are doing well to this point, and will benefit from this week's rains.

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“Certainly for the west central, the northwest and the northeast in particular, I think those individuals were looking for some precipitation to top up things. Some conditions were getting quite dry.”

The provincial seeding average is 82 per cent. McLean said that average would be higher if not for the southeast, where less than half of the planting is done as farmers struggle with wet conditions.

Some farmers in that area have now given up on seeding, McLean said.

“I talked to a few fellows at the Farm Progress Show and they indicated they were finished.” The fields are just too wet, he explained.

The Canadian Wheat Board said this week that more than six million acres of farmland on the Prairies won't be seeded this year because of excessive water.

Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud said he is concerned, especially with the first crop insurance deadlines approaching on Monday.

“Probably the last day you can seed and still have insurance with some of the crops we have out there, some of them are different days. I think that’s a day producers have in their minds.”

Bjornerud said there was extra help for farmers from Ottawa last year, but he's not sure if that will be the case this time. He’s requested federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz visit the impacted areas.

bbosker@panow.com