WINNIPEG — Freezing temperatures are raising tensions for wheat growers in Saskatchewan as this year’s crop looks to survive a late blast of winter weather.
The mercury dipped below zero in Saskatchewan yesterday morning and this morning.
Speaking yesterday afternoon, a regional crop specialist with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, Shannon Friesen, said many of the coldest temperatures were expected in areas where the wheat was still somewhat protected.
“The good news is that colder temps seem to be in the north and west, where not a lot of the crop has actually emerged,” she said.
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The next two to three weeks will be critical, said Friesen, as the wheat crop seeks to shrug off frost and other pressures in a bid to establish itself.
“We’re not hearing too many reports of insects, disease issues just yet, but now that we have some rain some of that can change,” she said.
Generally speaking, winter cereal crops in Saskatchewan came out of winter in pretty good shape, with fewer instances of winterkill as in the past, according to Friesen.
She said soil temperatures have also been somewhat warmer this year, which should help the wheat crop going forward.
“In parts of the south and west side of the province, many producers noted that at times the wheat was just kind of sitting in the soil,” said Friesen.
“It wasn’t growing as much as it could have been.”
She said the bit of rain that fell this week should improve things.
“If we didn’t get this rain, we might have been in more trouble,” she added.
According to Bruce Burnett, a weather and crop specialist at G3 Canada, wheat and durum are off to a quicker start this season than other crops.
“Wheat and durum are probably the two crops that have mostly emerged,” he said.
