Conditions are favourable in Alberta and Saskatchewan, farmers say
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Western Canadian farmers are busy seeding their spring crops.
Alberta farmers have planted just over 16 per cent of their crops, Alberta Agriculture’s crop report said on May 7. That figure is up from the five-year average of 11 per cent.
Everything is going smoothly early on, said David Bishop, a cash crop producer from Barons, Alta. and chair of Alberta Barley.
“Other than some very minor breakdowns, everything is going well like it usually does,” he told Farms.com. “I’m almost done seeding the canola and then I’ll be switching over to wheat. We could use a little more moisture but the soil conditions right now are pretty good.”
Bishop farms wheat, barley, canola and other crops on about 3,500 acres of land. He switched some canola acres to other crops because of market prices.
“With the market outlook and price, we dropped some canola acres to make room for more barley and wheat,” he said.
Farmers in Saskatchewan are also seeding spring acres.
Growers there have planted about 13 per cent of their crops, Saskatchewan Agriculture’s crop report said on May 6. That progress is one point below the five-year average.
A mix of timely rains and warm weather has helped growers get into the fields, said Trent Richards, a producer from Assiniboia, Sask.
“I’m about half done, and these are some of the best seeding conditions we’ve had in the last few years,” he told Farms.com. “The last couple years, we were kind of droughted out and didn’t have moisture. Right now, it’s close to perfect.”
Finishing seeding within the next few days will be important because rain is in the forecast from Thursday to Sunday, he added.