Seeding in southern Saskatchewan is happening in a bit of a haze this spring.
Dry conditions, warmer than normal temperatures and winds up to 100 km-h whipped up soil and turned bright blue skies a dingy brown last week.
“It’s pretty dry,” said Blair Daae, who farms with his brothers near Torquay, Sask.
To the east of where he was working a field May 1 before seeding wheat, a dirty haze clouded the skyline.
Soil moisture conditions were short to adequate until the middle of last week, when many areas were under wind warnings and temperatures rose into the 20s.
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Grant McLean, crop management specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture’s Knowledge Centre in Moose Jaw, said conditions deteriorated especially for those seeding in the wind.
“It’s very difficult,” he said. “As soon as you touch that ground it dries up.”
He said farmers have to use their own judgment when deciding to plant small-seed crops like canola, flax and mustard in such weather.
Later in the week, patchy rain showers provided some relief, but precipitation amounts were not generally more than about 15 millimetres.
Seeding progress was mixed throughout the region as farmers weighed their options.
“Some guys aren’t going because they think the soil temperatures aren’t high enough, which I think is a mistake except maybe on heavy clay,” McLean said.
Toward the Outlook area where it was a wet fall, many are waiting for potholes to dry up so they can go over the field once rather than go back and seed those areas, too.
Rick Reich, who farms near Craik, was happy to see some wind blow in to dry things up so he could start planting.
“There wouldn’t be five percent done around here yet,” he said May 4.
He expected operations would be in full swing this week throughout his area and that would be an average start date.
At Shaunavon, Brett Meinert said most farmers who are planting peas are done but not much more had gone in.
“We’re not bone dry,” he said.
“(Current moisture) is probably adequate for most circumstances.”
But he also noted that conditions are highly variable.
He is planting a little of everything: mustard; malting barley; Strongfield durum; peas; white wheat and spring wheat. He also has 1,000 acres of winter wheat that “looks excellent.”
Both Reich and Meinert said it seems that lentil acreage will be down this year.
Daae said seeding was proceeding as usual even in the dry conditions. His family is seeding canola, wheat, durum, lentils, peas and mustard. He estimated they had seeded about 1,500 acres by May 2, or about 20 percent of what they intended.
McLean said farmers should pay attention to their pea seed. Some producers are reporting that the dry seed is breaking as it is being planted.
“We knew that the seed was so dry even coming off the combine last fall.”
McLean added the conditions are preventing some farmers from completing preseeding burnoffs.
