Saskatchewan Seeding Advances but Highly Variable

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.