Province well ahead of 5-year average

Cruise said areas around Tisdale, Nipawin and Bruno are just seeing producers get into the fields while the rest are just waiting for field conditions to dry up, but she said producers are hoping to be in the field in the next week.

The southwest area of the province is the farthest along, thanks to dry weather.

Cruise said the southwest producers are normally in the fields a lot longer than the rest of the province, which helped boost the provincial average for seeding.

Producers in that area have 34 per cent of their crops in the ground.

As for the rest of the province, last week at this time most areas, other than the southwest, didn’t have many acres planted.

Now seeding has started for most producers.

In the southeast about 14 per cent is seeded; the west-central region has eight per cent in the ground; northwestern producers have seven per cent seeded and the east-central region has three per cent.

Kerry Peterson is a producer in the Shellbrook/Parkside area that farms cereal crops like oats, wheat and canola, along with field peas.

“We’re just getting started in this area, everything’s in front of us right now. We just started on some oats, we have about a quarter seeded,” he said.

He said the last few years they’ve started seeding around May 12 or 13, so they are well ahead of their start day this year.

“We always have hope and expectations [for the year]. The grain prices are down right now for some reason, so wheat is really soft priced,” Peterson explained.

“A Stats Canada report came out that Western Canada is going to seed a lot of oats, which negatively affected the market.”

He said things like these come in cycles so they’re just hoping things “strengthen up by the fall.”

More on the Crop Report

Around the province 32 per cent of field peas are in the ground, 29 per cent of lentils, 33 per cent of mustard, 25 per cent of durum and eight per cent of spring wheat and canola.

Topsoil moisture conditions are rated at 16 per cent surplus, 74 per cent adequate and 10 per cent short.

Hay land and pasture topsoil moisture is rated at eight per cent surplus, 75 per cent adequate, 14 per cent short and three per cent very short.

You can follow the Crop Reports on Twitter at @SKAGriculture

swallace@panow.com

On Twitter: @sarahthesquid

by Sarah Wallace

Province well ahead of 5-year average

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