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By Jaryn Vecchio

Farming Update

Conditions favourable for farmers around P.A. during seeding

May 12, 2023 | 5:00 PM

Seeding is underway in Saskatchewan; however, work is slowly moving along compared to previous years.

According to the province’s first crop report of the season, which includes data gathered between May 2nd to May 8th, around nine per cent of farmland has been seeded, which is well below the 10-year average of 22 per cent for this time of year.

That’s not exactly the case for some farmers living in communities around Prince Albert.

Kerry Peterson, who farms around Shellbrook, told farmnewsNOW he’s well ahead of schedule as he’s seeded around 30 per cent of his farm.

“It’s a lot drier than usual, so we’re able to get out and get going.”

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Seeding in dry conditions can be beneficial as muddy ground can be hard to work with, it limits the chances of soil compaction which can limit crops from growing and different diseases like clubroot.

However, Peterson explained that long dry spells are very detrimental.

“The (current) moisture is only going to last so long,” he said. “We will be looking for rain pretty soon.”

Meanwhile, Smeaton-area Bob Reid is just about to get his seeding started, but the late start compared to others isn’t because of poor conditions. In fact, he believes conditions are ‘agreeable.’

The plan was to start earlier this week, however, his drill started experiencing electrical problems forcing him to wait until Friday.

Despite this, Reid isn’t worried at all.

“Most of the time, guys are just thinking about starting on the 12^th of May,” he joked.

He doesn’t think it’ll take long for his farm to catch up to the province’s average progress due to the current conditions.

When asked if he was worried about these dry conditions and the increasing risk of wildfires, Reid said he had no concerns as everyone he lives around understands the dos and don’ts around starting fires.

“The guys I know always phone for a fire permit and stuff, most guys are pretty good.”

—

Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow