Jeff Gaab, who farms south of Weyburn, is nearly done seeding after late start and a week of wet weather. "We're seeding right now.
Jeff Gaab, who farms south of Weyburn, is nearly done seeding after late start and a week of wet weather.
"We're seeding right now. We're back in the fields but conditions are wet for us," said Gaab, who is roughly 90 per cent done with seeding as of Friday. He said another day or two of nice, warm weather would allow them to finish.
Gaab, who is also working on weed control and burn off, has seeded spring wheat, durum, barley, canola, peas and lentils this year. He said most of the farmers in his area have seeded the same crops.
"The first of the crop is getting very close to needing spraying too," said Gaab.
Richard Wawro farms north of Weyburn.
"We've had a late start and last week we had about 1.7 inches of rain," said Wawro, who also noted the fields are drying now and things are getting better.
In fact, Wawro finished seeding on Thursday. He seeded spring wheat, canola, flax and yellow peas this year, but noted that other farmers in his area chose different crops.
"There's a few more soybeans in the countryside than there has been," he said and added that there was more canary seed too. "There's a bit more barley than I've seen in a while."
Wawro said barley doesn't always do well in wet conditions but that it is a hardy seed and he is not anticipating any problems with the barley crop.
"It's wet," said Gord Gallinger who farms southeast of Weyburn between Halbrite and Griffin. Gallinger finished seeding two weeks ago, but admits his farm is more cattle than crops.
Gallinger did seed spring wheat, barley and oats and said they are all doing well, as are his cattle and he has no concerns as of Friday.
"The pastures are good and the dugouts are full of water," he said, and added that it should be a good year for hay as long as the area doesn't develop a weevil problem.
"They're anywhere from 50 to 75 per cent done," said Gallinger of the other farmers in his area that he has spoken with. He said they are seeding similar crops to him, but also canola, durum and soybeans.
"As long as rain and heat keep coming when we need them, we should be fine. We still need to get timely rains throughout the season," said Gallinger, who explained that heat is needed now, but that a good amount of moisture will be needed for in the second half of July.
The Ministry of Agriculture reports that continuous rainfall has delayed seeding in much of the southern portion of the province, with the Radville and Coronach areas receiving more than four inches of rain in the past week.
Farmers are busy trying to finish seeding, controlling weeds and moving cattle to pasture.
Still, seeding continues to progress in the province and producers now have 83 per cent of the 2013 crop in the ground as of June 3, right in line with the five-year (2008-2012) average of 82 per cent seeded for this time of year.
The ministry said 71 per cent of the crop is seeded in the southeast; 90 per cent in the southwest; 84 per cent in the east-central area; 87 per cent in west-central and northeast areas; and 89 per cent in the northwest.
Provincially, producers seeded 89 per cent of spring wheat by June 3, 87 per cent of field peas, 86 per cent of canola, 84 per cent of durum, 81 per cent of lentils, 76 per cent of barley, 67 per cent of oats, 54 per cent of flax, 43 per cent of mustard and chickpeas and 41 per cent of canary seed.
Provincially, topsoil moisture on crop land is rated as 11 per cent surplus, 79 per cent adequate and 10 per cent short. Hay land and pasture topsoil moisture is rated as five per cent surplus, 79 per cent adequate and 16 per cent short.
Despite most emerged crops trailing behind their normal stages of development for this time of year, the majority of these crops are in good to excellent condition. Most crop damage across the province as of June 3 week was caused by flea beetle and cutworm damage in canola crops, excess moisture and wind.
