DELISLE, Sask. – A creek winds it way through Ron Kielo’s pastures, where cattle fan out in all directions.
“They must be getting enough to eat, a bunch are laying down,” he said during a drive past the fields in west-central Saskatchewan June 21.
Kielo is pleased with what he sees in his cow-calf operation and 8,200 acres of peas, barley, wheat and canola.
Good snow cover and spring rains that left rutted farm roads and water-filled depressions are helping to shape a good crop.
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“The prospects are great, but the weather is our ruler,” said Kielo, who had more than 100 millimetres of rain June 17.
Rains delayed seeding and caused some erosion in the fields for Kielo, who got stuck four times this spring.
Crop development is about four days slower than usual, but Kielo is not in a complaining mood this day.
“When you’re interrupted by rain, it’s not a real disappointment,” he said.
A hot windy July took away some of his yield potential in 2006, but he still managed to harvest an above average crop with good grades and yields with his continuous cropping regime.
Kielo was confident enough this year with good moisture and the promise of higher prices to put extra money into higher priced fertilizer. Not even a cutworm infestation on 80 acres adjacent to his Delavon fertilizer plant can deflate his high hopes for the crop.
“I’m positive about this year’s crop so I wanted to maximize that,” said Kielo.
Crops are in good shape around Saskatoon, said Nick Flaman of Living Sky Agronomy.
Moisture is generally good, with eastern and northern sections experiencing more rain.
“With all the moisture, disease is starting to be a concern,” said Flaman.
He said the Biggar area seeded a little earlier because it was drier than other regions so it really benefited from rain in the last two weeks.
George Stahl, retired field boss with the Springwater Hutterite Colony near Biggar, said that moisture is helping crops progress.
“We’ve got water in sloughs we’ve never seen before,” he said.
Grass and hay land got a good boost this year and fall rye crops are about two weeks earlier than last year.
Strong crop growth is providing good competition for equally strong weed growth, he said, noting most spraying is completed. Leaf stripe is a concern in barley and may require some control.
Stahl said rain rarely slows the colony down for long.
“We are sandy so we can seed right after the rain,” he said.
Last year the rains stopped by June 20 and crops burned up. This year, rain is now not needed until mid July.
“If the hot winds stay away and it don’t get too hot, we’ll be all right,” he said.
“With a few odd showers coming through, it’ll put the crop through.”
