What a difference a couple of weeks can make. Saskatchewan farmers who were waiting on the sidelines for the snow to melt and the floodwaters to recede are now getting out into their fields, but spring seeding is now way behind for many.
“Right now, we’re about two weeks behind. This time last year, we were finished seeding,” said Ryan Scragg, who farms northeast of Prince Albert, Sask., in the RM of Garden River.
Scragg is not alone. He farms wheat, canola, barley and lentils in the northeast, an area of the province that has seen significant flooding this spring. Conditions are much improved, but still not ideal.
“If it were the first of May, we’d probably be delaying, but we are now the 21st of May, so now we have no choice. We have to do it,” Scragg added.
The latest crop report shows that seeding is just 29 per cent complete across the province.
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That’s way behind the five-year average of 55 per cent. The area Scragg farms in is just 11 per cent complete.
It’s a similar situation in the Nokomis area, where a lot of Ian McNichol’s land has been underwater this spring. He is out now doing what he can, but he admits there is a lot of uncertainty ahead and increased risk for whatever crop he can get into the ground, the later into September the growing season goes.
“The biggest concern is going to be quality,” said Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan president Bill Prybylski.
He says heavy frost in the fall could mean significant damage for crops that remain on the field, which could downgrade the quality of the grain.
“The price that we would be getting for that grain. And the extra stress on producers,” said Prybylski.
Given the circumstances, many farmers are already thinking ahead to the potential of utilizing crop insurance.
That said, Prybylski says farmers are pushing forward, staying focused on what is within their control, getting out in the fields and crops in the ground as best they can.
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