By Alice McFarlane

Saskatchewan farmers push ahead with seeding despite cool weather

May 6, 2021 | 3:16 PM

MELFORT, Sask. – Many producers are waiting a few more days to start seeding while others have taken advantage of the dry conditions to get an early start.

The first crop report of the spring said seeding is nine per cent complete across Saskatchewan well ahead of the five-year average of six per cent.

The southwest region has 19 per cent of the crop seeded with the southeast at 11 per cent and six per cent seeded in the west central.

The east-central and northwest regions are reporting five per cent of the crop is in, while just two per cent is seeded in the northeast.

Gronlid, Sask. area farmer Marty Tluchak said they have already made good progress.

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Tluchak, who farms with his brother Dennis in the northeast part of the province, said this could be the earliest they have started seeding.

“We started on about April 30. As we speak this morning, we’re already a third done and within three to four days we’ll probably have all our cereals in the ground,” Tluchak told farmnewsNOW. “We’re not used to this in our part of the country to be going this early.”

Tluchak’s will grow canola, wheat and oats. For the first time in many years they will seed barley because of the lucrative contracts that are available.

Temperatures are still below normal with overnight lows between minus 1 to minus 6. Tluchak said seeding canola at those temperatures is a concern.

“You start putting canola in the ground at this time of the year with those kind of night temperatures is pretty risky so in a sense we’re sort of rolling the dice here by going at it fairly hard,” he said.

Tluchak said, on the other hand, if there were rain delays you miss the opportunity to get started early so they are taking advantage of it.

While many parts of the prairies are very dry, northeast Saskatchewan is starting the crop year with good soil conditions. Light precipitation was reported in the past week in many areas of the province. The north-east received the greatest amount of rainfall.

Tluchak said the rain this past weekend delayed operations for a day.

“Right now, we’re seeding in some of the better conditions that we’ve seeded into in a long time as far as the moisture goes. Field conditions are probably as good as I can remember. We’re feeling pretty good about our start,” Tluchak said.

But Tluchak admitted it could change quickly. He said it wouldn’t take too many 20-degree days and some wind to dry fields out so some rain within a week or so would be welcomed.

As commodity prices hit new highs, Tluchak said it is an exciting time, but it is also scary.

“We get average to slightly above average crops. But the drought maps that are coming out are getting bigger all the time,” he said. “It’s just one of those situations where we’ve got tremendous opportunities right now and we’re trying to figure out at what point do you start locking more product in or do you wait.”

Like every other year Tluchak said there are a number of things to think about right now.

“All I can say is I hope it works out,” he said.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @farmnewsNOW