Dry weather so far not an issue for farmers near Regina

As of right now, the dry weather isn’t getting some producers around Regina down.

Kyle Lazeski, who farms everything from flax to barley east of Zehner, said his soil moisture levels were decent when he started planting last week.

“There’s definitely moisture in the ground. I’m seeding into moisture right now,” he said.

While his top layer of soil is parched, Lazeski noted his winter straw cover helped keep what’s underneath it moist enough to help his seeds start germinating.

However, he said some rain about a week after he’s done seeding, would be ideal.

“Half an inch (of rain) would definitely be a good start. (The soil) would definitely soak it up quite quickly,” Lazeski said. “Even the lower moisture levels are lagging, so it wouldn’t go as far as a normal year.”

Looking back at last summer’s crops, he said the drought-like conditions then actually helped cut down on his weed growth.

“I still had good yields and everything — a lot of guys around here did actually have decent crops,” he said. “I don’t know if it was the dew keeping things going in the mornings, but we had a lot less problems with diseases.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, Environment Canada’s forecast shows a 60 per cent chance of rain for the Regina area over the next three days.