Saskatchewan seeding continued to advance over the past week, with several regions now nearing completion despite progress still running slightly behind normal.
The latest weekly provincial crop report on Thursday showed seeding at 93% complete as of Monday, up from 80% a week earlier. However, progress remains behind both the five- and 10-year averages of 97% for this time of year. Last year at this time, seeding was wrapped up for the year.
The west-central region is the furthest advanced at 98% complete, followed closely by the southwest at 97%. Seeding is 96% complete in the southeast, 95% in the northwest and 92% in the northeast. The east-central region made gains over the week but continues to trail the rest of the province at 84% complete.
Provincially, seeding is nearly finished for field peas, lentils, durum and spring wheat, while other cereal and oilseed crops also made further progress. Field peas are 99% seeded, followed by durum at 97%, spring wheat and lentils at 96% each, and canola at 93%. Barley is 91% complete, chickpeas 87%, flax 86%, oats 85%, canary seed 79%, mustard 75% and triticale 71%.
Rainfall varied widely across the province. Some areas received little to no precipitation, while the Calder area reported 164 mm. The RM of Fertile Belt received 118 mm and the Langenburg region recorded 116 mm.
Topsoil moisture conditions were relatively stable overall, although surplus moisture increased in some areas following the heavier rainfall. Cropland topsoil moisture was rated 13% surplus, 77% adequate, 9% short and 1% very short as of Monday.
Crop development remains variable because of differing environmental conditions and seeding dates, the report said. Winter cereals range from tillering to heading, with 36% at the tillering stage and 24% heading. Spring cereals are mostly at the seedling stage, while pulse crops are split between pre-emergence, seedling and vegetative stages.
Click here to see more...