Seeding wraps up in Saskatchewan as rain causes issues: Crop Report

Jun 14, 2024

Seeding is nearly complete in Saskatchewan, but rainfall over the past week continued to create issues for producers in some parts of the province.

According to the provincial crop report from the Ministry of Agriculture, which covered the week ending on Monday, seeding is 98 per cent complete in the province, though rain slowed down the tail end of seeding in the northeast and east-central regions.

“Some producers have indicated their acres may not be able to be seeded this year due to the excess moisture in some areas,” the report read.

“Regions that have received increased precipitation have noted that the heavy rainfall has caused water to collect in lower lying areas with crop flooding occurring.”

According to the report, 81 millimetres of rain fell in the Lake Lenore area over the past week. The Arborfield area was close behind with 78mm, while the Duck Lake region got 76mm of rain.

In cropland, topsoil moisture levels were rated at eight per cent surplus, 90 per cent adequate and two per cent short. For hayland, levels sat at five per cent surplus, 89 per cent adequate and six per cent short. In pastures, topsoil moisture was rated as five per cent surplus, 87 per cent adequate and eight per cent short.

“The majority of crops across the province are reported in good to excellent condition given the moisture received,” the report noted. “This has provided a great start for crops as compared to previous years.”

But while many crops are at the normal stage of development, the report noted that cooler temperatures and rainfall led to an increase in the number of crops that are behind, with spring wheat and oilseeds the most affected.

Along with issues due to excess moisture, some crop damage over the past week was caused by frost and wind, along with gophers, flea beetles and grasshoppers.

“Damage overall was reported as minor except for a few areas of the province reporting increased crop damage from wind and excessive moisture,” the ministry noted.

“In addition to damage caused by crop flooding in low lying areas from excessive moisture, producers also note that crops are showing signs of stress due to the excess moisture in some regions of the province.”

While seeding is wrapping up, producers are applying herbicides and picking rocks, while keeping a close eye on insect activity.

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Video: Why Your Food Future Could be Trapped in a Seed Morgue

In a world of PowerPoint overload, Rex Bernardo stands out. No bullet points. No charts. No jargon. Just stories and photographs. At this year’s National Association for Plant Breeding conference on the Big Island of Hawaii, he stood before a room of peers — all experts in the science of seeds — and did something radical: he showed them images. He told them stories. And he asked them to remember not what they saw, but how they felt.

Bernardo, recipient of the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award, has spent his career searching for the genetic treasures tucked inside what plant breeders call exotic germplasm — ancient, often wild genetic lines that hold secrets to resilience, taste, and traits we've forgotten to value.

But Bernardo didn’t always think this way.

“I worked in private industry for nearly a decade,” he recalls. “I remember one breeder saying, ‘We’re making new hybrids, but they’re basically the same genetics.’ That stuck with me. Where is the new diversity going to come from?”

For Bernardo, part of the answer lies in the world’s gene banks — vast vaults of seed samples collected from every corner of the globe. Yet, he says, many of these vaults have quietly become “seed morgues.” “Something goes in, but it never comes out,” he explains. “We need to start treating these collections like living investments, not museums of dead potential.”

That potential — and the barriers to unlocking it — are deeply personal for Bernardo. He’s wrestled with international policies that prevent access to valuable lines (like North Korean corn) and with the slow, painstaking science of transferring useful traits from wild relatives into elite lines that farmers can actually grow. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. But he’s convinced that success starts not in the lab, but in the way we communicate.

“The fact sheet model isn’t cutting it anymore,” he says. “We hand out a paper about a new variety and think that’s enough. But stories? Plants you can see and touch? That’s what stays with people.”

Bernardo practices what he preaches. At the University of Minnesota, he helped launch a student-led breeding program that’s working to adapt leafy African vegetables for the Twin Cities’ African diaspora. The goal? Culturally relevant crops that mature in Minnesota’s shorter growing season — and can be regrown year after year.

“That’s real impact,” he says. “Helping people grow food that’s meaningful to them, not just what's commercially viable.”

He’s also brewed plant breeding into something more relatable — literally. Coffee and beer have become unexpected tools in his mission to make science accessible. His undergraduate course on coffee, for instance, connects the dots between genetics, geography, and culture. “Everyone drinks coffee,” he says. “It’s a conversation starter. It’s a gateway into plant science.”