Severe excess moisture continues to be the main difficulty facing farmers in the southeast.
Severe excess moisture continues to be the main difficulty facing farmers in the southeast.
"It is a tough time for farmers in Weyburn; they can only work around nature, and are looking forward to dryer weather," said Elaine Moats, crops specialists for the Weyburn area. "Everyone is in the same boat, not only were they unable to complete seeding, but they have other issues around the farmyard because of the flooding, including damage to their property."
Some green feed crops may be seeded if the weather improves, however only 44 per cent of the 2011 crop was planted. "Certainly those producers on higher land have completed more seeding that those on lower ground," said Moats. She added that seeding progress is quite reduced for those on land closer to Weyburn because the clay soil holds the moisture.
Acres that were seeded are now flooded. The continuous rain has halted field work for many weeks now. The Weyburn area has received 383 mm of rain since April 1, and reported in the week of June 14 to 20 nearly half of that at 124 mm.
"The problem with the heavy rainfall that we received is that it is flooding and drowning out the crops that were seeded," said Moats. "Farmers are in a holding pattern right now before they can determine what kind of damage was done to crops because of the flooding, mostly because they are unable to access their fields."
Crop conditions have been difficult to assess as crops are just emerging, and flooding has caused damage to others. Overall in the southeast, winter wheat is 22 per cent excellent, 37 per cent good, 32 per cent fair, eight per cent poor and one per cent very poor; and fall rye is 37 per cent excellent, 33 per cent good, nine per cent fair, 20 per cent poor and one per cent very poor.
Spring wheat is zero per cent excellent, 23 per cent good, 28 per cent fair, 31 per cent poor and eight per cent very poor. Durum is one per cent excellent, 29 per cent good, 30 per cent fair, 33 per cent poor and seven per cent very poor.
Oats is zero per cent excellent, 20 per cent good, 36 per cent fair, 25 per cent poor and nine per cent very poor. Barley is zero per cent excellent, 30 per cent good, 23 per cent fair, 39 per cent poor and eight per cent very poor. Flax is one per cent excellent, 20 per cent good, 35 per cent fair, 37 per cent poor and seven per cent very poor.
Canola is one per cent excellent, 27 per cent good, 37 per cent fair, 27 per cent poor and eight per cent very poor. Mustard is zero per cent excellent, 24 per cent good, 32 per cent fair, 44 per cent poor and zero per cent very poor. Peas are one per cent excellent, 23 per cent good, 33 per cent fair, 34 per cent poor and nine per cent very poor. Lentils are one per cent excellent, 28 per cent good, 29 per cent fair, 37 per cent poor and five per cent very poor. Canaryseed is zero per cent excellent, 16 per cent good, 27 per cent fair, 47 per cent poor and 10 per cent very poor. There are no ratings on chickpeas.
Weed control is a concern now as weeds are starting to get ahead of the crop in many areas. "Most of the weeds that farmers normally deal with don't like wet ground, so it is different varieties that are now growing and causing challenges," said Moats. Once again limited access to their fields make it difficult for farmers to manage their fields with spraying operations, with some producers resorting to aerial spraying.
Cattle producers are having a difficult time processing and vaccinating cattle in the wet weather. Some are still feeding herds in the yard as access to pasture is limited. Crops reporters are predicting there will be many acres of hay land that will not be accessible.
"We might have a shortage of straw for cattle producers this fall because the amount of acres that are cereal crops are down compared to previous years, so it has made many cattle producers anxious about their haying conditions," said Moats.
Topsoil moisture conditions on crop land are 86 per cent surplus and 14 per cent adequate. Hay and pasture land is rated as 81 per cent surplus and 19 per cent adequate.
