With much of crop planted, farmers look for rain

A moisture disparity across the province has caused mixed results for Saskatchewan producers so far this season, with 68 per cent of the 2023 crop reported to be in the ground.

According to the provincial crop report for May 16-22, producers made “tremendous progress with their seeding operations,” though the current total is still behind the five-year average of 76 per cent.

While some farmers would like to see rain to ensure their crop has the moisture needed to emerge evenly and not be held back by dry conditions, many in the southeast and east-central areas were struggling with excess moisture hindering field operations.

According to the latest report, producers in the northwest are almost done seeding, with 84 per cent of their crop now in the ground.

That is followed by the west-central with 81 per cent, the northeast with 76 per cent, the southwest with 73 per cent, the east-central with 58 per cent and the southeast with 51 per cent.

There were small to moderate rain showers across the province over the past week, with close to an inch falling in some areas.

For the most part, the rain was not enough to relieve the dry conditions that some producers are facing.

This issue is greatest in the west-central region, where topsoil moisture quickly dropped after weeks of minimal precipitation.

After another warm, windy week, topsoil moisture ratings have continued to drop in many regions. The driest regions are the northwest, west-central and southwest, where some producers are worried their newly emerging crop will not have enough moisture to make it through the heat of July without a good soaking of rain.