This winter has been relatively dry and any snow we have seen hasn't been enough to recharge moisture conditions.
Agri-Climate Specialist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Trevor Hadwen says we're going to need timely, consistent rains before seeding and throughout the growing season.
"We haven't recovered fully from last year's drought and previous years, but also because of the warmer, drier conditions that we've had this winter. Some of the areas have seen a little bit of snow, and some areas of the Prairies have certainly received the same amount of snow they would normally."
What's concerning is that we've also seen warmer than normal temperatures, which has been removing that snowpack and providing a lot of evaporation.
Hadwen says over the last three years the accumulation of droughts and the compacting issues are starting to cause some problems.
The biggest area of concern in the Prairies right now is in Alberta for a couple of reasons.
"One being the northern portion of the province has been extremely dry this winter. That's the Peace River area all the way down through Edmonton. Those regions have received extremely poor snow cover and snow accumulation this winter. So they actually went into the winter in a much better position than any other part of the prairies, but have really declined this winter. So that area is in more of a short-term drought situation. Whereas, the southern portion of the province has received near normal precipitation through the winter, but over the last three years, the accumulation of drought and the compacting issues are really starting to cause some problems."
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