Parts of southern and eastern Saskatchewan currently under a severe drought will need continuous light rain over several days to recharge the soil, according to farmers and agricultural experts.
Saskatchewan Agriculture regular reports on soil moisture conditions in its weekly crop report through the growing season. Southern and easter regions of Saskatchewan wer very low on on moisture at the end of the last growing season.
The lack of snow over the winter adds to the dry conditions faced by farmers this spring.
Todd Lewis of the Agricultual Producers Association of Saskatchewan says 100 millimetres f rain is needed to recharge the soil and get the crops off to a good start.
Subsoil moisture is low, which Lewis said was depleted during the last growing season.
“Crops can get pretty deep and they’ll go find the moisture. This year, there’s not the moisture there for the roots to find,” he said.
Gavin Leech, a Technical Agronomist with Sharpe’s Crop Services in Moosomin says that the moisture was welcomed, but it’s not enough.
He says that the moisture is a good start, but timely rains will be necessary for a good 2021 growing season.
“Things are setting up pretty decently. The moisture was good, it was needed, we needed it in some form and it came as snow. Seeding should be able to start here any day now and conditions are looking good, but we are going to need some rain in May, June, and July because it is still dry,” Leech said.
Once the seed is established, Leech says producers will require several warm days followed by rain.
“We do want to get seeded in good time and get some moisture with some warm days to get it out of the ground. We need a bit of good weather, and once crops are established we can go from there.”
He notes that there have been concerns raised by producers regarding both dry conditions and accessibility to parts.
“The main issue that I’ve heard from growers would have to be dryness followed by shortages on parts and supplies. I’ve been hearing stuff about parts and issues with getting them with COVID-19.”
