Seeding operations were just getting started in the Weyburn region this week, up until rain arrived on Tuesday to delay things.
Creelman area farmer Marcel Van Staveren, who farms with his two brothers, began seeding on April 27, starting mostly on Monday.
He noted their farm didn’t see all the snow gone until April 10, and all their dugouts are full, some of them filling up after a melt on Feb. 6.
They are beginning with canaryseed and large green lentils, then will move to seeding durum and canola after May 12. He noted canola seedlings are sensitive to May frosts, and as seed costs are rising, they prefer to wait a bit before putting them into the ground.
Their farm will use use four air drills, three of them over 10 years old and one is one year old, a “new-to-us” disk drill that seeds with ultra-low soil disturbance, and planting through all residue plants from the previous year.
The farm is also experimenting with using stripper headers at harvest time, but starting with test plots on 12 fields, in 20-30 acre spots in each, with tall stubble left behind. The goal is to plant these areas and see how the crops do alongside crops that were harvested normally.
Another time-saver for their farm was they did all of the application of soil nitrogen last fall with anhydrous ammonia, to help make the seeding this spring go more efficiently.
North of Weyburn, farmer Dale Paslawski said he started seeding on April 23, starting with yellow peas. He will move to durum and canola later.
He said he is only putting in 2,200 acres of mixed crops, but he won’t be putting in lentils as he noted the forecast is for record acres of lentils to be planted in Saskatchewan this year.
Paslawski said soil conditions are excellent right now, but the fields were drying out prior to the rain coming on Tuesday.
“I had good weed growth this spring, so the burnoff was good,” he added.
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