Warm weather and drier conditions helping Sask. producers – and their crops – catch up

Warm weather over the past week has helped Saskatchewan farmers get back into the fields in many parts of the province and helped speed up crop development, but the high humidity has also created favourable conditions for diseases, leading to another challenge for producers.

According to the weekly crop report from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture – which covered the week ending on Monday – most parts of the province saw warmer, drier conditions than previous weeks, which were marked by rain and flooding, hampering crop development and leaving many producers postponing their haying operations.

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“Warmer weather helped crop development, bringing some crops closer to normal stages for this time of year,” the ministry wrote in its report.

“Fall cereals have the largest percentage of acres near normal stages of development while oilseeds, spring cereals and annual forages remain the largest percentages of crops that are behind.”

The improved conditions also let a number of producers make good progress on haying over the past week, the ministry said. Half of the hay crop was cut as of Monday, with 43 per cent standing, 29 per cent cut and 28 per cent baled or put up as silage.

“Hay quality is rated as 24 per cent excellent, 65 per cent good, 10 per cent fair and one per cent poor,” the ministry noted.

The highest rainfall over the week covered by the report fell in the Bienfait area, which received 126 millimetres of rain. That was followed by the Meadow Lake area (73 mm) and Lampman (48 mm), while many regions reported rainfall between 25 and 45 mm.

But while the warm, humid weather was likely welcomed by many farmers, the weather also created conditions favourable for disease development, the agriculture ministry explained.

“As a result, many producers are applying fungicides to suppress existing disease pressure and proactively spraying to reduce the risk of further disease development,” the ministry reported.

While the weather was warmer and drier over the past week, the ministry’s report noted that there’s still some excess moisture in many fields around Saskatchewan.

In cropland, topsoil moisture was rated as 12 per cent surplus, 77 per cent adequate, 10 per cent short and one per cent very short. For hayland, topsoil moisture was rated as 11 per cent surplus, 78 per cent adequate, 10 per cent short and one per cent very short. In pastures, topsoil moisture levels were sitting at seven per cent surplus, 76 per cent adequate, 14 per cent short and three per cent very short.

“Producers report minor to severe damage to crops from flooding, heat, wind and hail this week,” the agriculture ministry reported.

“Gophers and cabbage seedpod weevil caused minor to moderate damage to crops with some areas seeing higher damage depending on pest populations. Localized storms and strong winds led to cereal crops lodging across many regions. In areas that remained wet most of the season, root rots and other diseases are causing minor to moderate damage.”

Over the weeks ahead, the ministry said farmers will be busy spraying fungicides, haying and preparing equipment for harvest.