While some people in the city might appreciate the lack of moisture this time of year, farmers in the south are begging for the snow to fall.
Jake Leguee farms a mixed variety of farm grains and oilseeds close to Fillmore —106 kilometres southeast of Regina.
“We have basically no snow at all, there’s just a little skiff on the ground,” he said. “We haven’t gotten any moisture of significance since November — we’re just as dry now as we were during harvest.”
Leguee said the lack of moisture is a concern at the moment as it could potentially impact their crop plan. However, in the long run he said it’s too early to panic just yet.
“We’ve got lots of time for the weather to change, if it’s going to be dry — it might as well be dry now.”
In the meantime, Leguee said all he can do is hope and pray for some rain ahead of seeding so that the crop can germinate, adding that more rain would be needed during the growing season.
Soil specialist not worried just yet
Ken Panchuk is the Saskatchewan soil specialist for crops and irrigation and he repeated what Leguee said about it being “just too early” for farmers to start rethinking about seeding.
Environment issued a snowfall warning for parts of central Sask. which Panchuk said is good news, but farmers in the south need the snow as well.
“Hopefully we’ll get coverage a little further south in the grain belt,” Panchuk said. “The first thing that needs to happen is a good ground cover, (most are) practising zero till and the stubble fields are not full with snow yet. That would be the first good step for most farmers to see the stubble fields are now covered with a blanket of snow to protect the winter wheat and also to prevent the soil from drying out further.”
He added between now and spring, a mix of rain would be a great start for next year’s crop.
“The most important point is that we still have about three months before seeding and hay and pasture land will start to regrow,” he said. “So there’s lots of time between now and then to receive snowfall or spring rains.”