Saskatchewan Seeding Advances but Highly Variable

May 13, 2022

Overall Saskatchewan seeding took a significant step forward this past week, although progress remains highly variable depending on region.

The latest weekly crop report on Thursday pegged provincewide seeding at 14% complete as of Monday, up from just 1% a week earlier although still well behind the five-year average of 23%. In the drier Southwest region, where farmers would welcome rain, more than one-third of the crop (34%) was already in the ground, ahead of 29% on average. In contrast, the southeast was only 7% done, compared to 27% on average.
Following recent deluges that missed the more western areas, many fields in the eastern half of the province are still too wet to allow producers to seed, the report said, noting full-scale seeding is still a week away in some areas.

The most rain reported this past week was in the Pelly area with 49 mm, followed by 46 mm in the Bienfait area. The Shaunavon area received 26 mm and the Hazenmore area received 18 mm. Due to widespread precipitation across the province, topsoil moisture has slightly improved from last week’s report. Cropland topsoil moisture was rated as 6% surplus, 58% adequate, 26% short and 10% very short as of Monday.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.