Crop Report 2007 Crop Report May 13, 2007Saskatchewan farmers have now planted 31 per cent of the 2007 crop, according to Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food's weekly crop report. The five-year average (2002-06 inclusive) is 27 per cent. Seeding is most advanced in the southwest where 54 per cent of the crop has been planted. Seeding is least advanced in the northeast, where only five per cent has been planted. Sixty-four per cent of peas have been planted, 54 per cent of lentils, 52 per cent of chickpeas, 45 per cent of durum, 29 per cent of mustard, 28 per cent of spring wheat, 26 per cent of canola, 20 per cent of barley, 13 per cent of triticale, 11 per cent of canary seed, nine per cent of flax and oats, and four per cent of sunflowers. Early seeded crops are emerging in southern and central regions.
Twenty-five per cent of the crop was seeded ranging from 57% in the southwest to 6% in the northeast. South eastern Saskatchewan This past week was again windy in the southeast with rain and frost. An average of 16 mm of precipitation was reported. This ranged from an average low of 5 mm in Crop District (CD) 2b to an average high of 27 mm in CD 1a. Almost 50 mm was reported in the Carnduff area. Windy days delayed spraying. The warm, windy days caused some crusting of soils in the Marquis area, and drawing down topsoil moisture in other areas. Rain at the time of writing of this report could help alleviate those conditions. South eastern reporters said 90% of the crop land had adequate moisture, up from 84% last week. Seven per cent of the crop land is in a short topsoil moisture situation, down from 16% last week. Eighty-four per cent of the hay and pasture land is in an adequate topsoil moisture situation and 15% in a short or very short moisture situation. Good seeding progress was made and south eastern farmers report 39% of the 2007 crop planted, up from 17% last week. Crop District 3ase is furthest advanced at 67% seeded. Crop District 1a is least advanced with 29% seeded. Seventy-two per cent of the peas have been seeded in the southeast, as has 56% of the chickpeas, 51% of the mustard and the lentils, 47% of the canola, 40% of the spring wheat, 39% of the durum, 34% of the mustard, 33% of the barley, 25% of the canola, 18% of the oats, 15% of the canary seed, and 13% of the flax, 4% of the sunflowers, and 1% of the triticale. Early seeded crops are emerging. A few changes to seeding plans were mentioned by reporters - less wheat, more flax, canola, oats, and barley for malt. Cattle are being moved out to pastures, and reporters expect some cattle to be moving to community pastures in the next week or so. Weed growth is heavy. Gophers are out in large numbers in pastures in the Moosomin area. Gophers are also increasing in number in the Weyburn area. In the Odessa area, the local bar is having a contest for the most gopher tails turned in! Farmers continue with fertilizer and herbicide applications, rock picking, and seed cleaning. South western Saskatchewan (CDs 3asw, 3an, 3b, & 4)
This past week in the southwest was again windy with frost and some thunderstorms. An average of 7 mm of precipitation was reported. This ranged from an average low of less than ½ mm reported in CD 4b, to an average high of 12 mm in CD 3an. In the Gravelbourg area, 50 mm of rain was received that caused flooding and there was also some hail in the storm. Windy weather delayed spraying operations and drew down topsoil moisture. Some regions of the southwest received rain at the writing of this report. There were reports of soil drifting in the Tyner area. Crusted soil in the Leader area made it hard for emerging canola and canary seed crops. South western farmers report 54% of the 2007 crop planted, up from 21% last week. Crop District 4b is furthest advanced at 64% seeded and CDs 3an and 3asw are least advanced at 43% seeded. Early seeded crops are emerging. Some farmers have completed their seeding. Some cereal acres could be diverted to pulse crops and more stubble is being seeded in some areas. Cattle are moving out to summer pastures and will be moving to community pastures soon. In the Swift Current area, some ranchers are still feeding bales to their stock. There is a good growth of weeds. There were shortages of some chemicals reported including seed treatment, as well as some fertilizer shortages. Large gopher populations are present the Coderre, Cadillac, Mankota, Kincaid, Hazenmore, and Pontiex areas. Gophers holes are hard on machinery and reporters anticipate damage when crops begin to emerge. Already they are digging up pea and chickpea crops. Wire worms caused damage to some fall triticale in the Consul area. Fall rye is going into the shot blade stage in the Maple Creek area. East central Saskatchewan (Crop Districts 5 & 6a)
The east central region was windy again last week, with a wide range of temperatures. An average of 6 mm of precipitation was reported. This ranged from an average low of 2 mm in CD 6a, to an average high of 12 mm in CD 5a. Strong winds interfered with spraying and dried out topsoil. Some areas were getting rain at the writing of this report. Frost in the Leroy area mid-week caused some plant damage. Topsoil moisture conditions on crop land improved, with reporters rating 76% of crop land as having adequate moisture, compared to 68% last week. Eighteen per cent of the crop land continues to be in the surplus category. For hay and pasture land, reporters rate 78% of the area as adequate. The wettest fields were in CD 5b. Farmers got stuck while trying to spray. Up to 15% of field areas may not be seeded due to water and wet areas. East central farmers report 17% of the 2007 crop planted, up from 4% last week. Crop District 5a reports 21% seeded, while CD 5b reports 9%. Early-seeded cereals and pulses are emerging. Canola emergence was spotty and poor in the Lumsden area. Forty-seven per cent of the peas have been planted, as has 22% of the canola, 18% of the lentils, 15% of the spring wheat and the barley, 11% of the durum, 6% of the oats and the mustard, 3% of the flax, 2% of the chickpeas, and 1% of the triticale, the sunflowers, and the canary seed. Weeds are growing fast and heavy. Gophers were a concern in the Ituna area. Farmers were fertilizing, picking rocks, and harrowing. Winter wheat crops are looking good. Some 2006 flax was combined in the Meacham area. Some 2006 harvest was completed in the Goodeve area with poor quality due to wildlife damage.
West central Saskatchewan The west central region was windy with frost and showers during the past week. An average of 3 mm of precipitation was reported. This ranged from an average low of trace amounts in CD 7a to an average high of 7 mm in CD 6b. Frost mid-week damaged fruit trees and alfalfa. There was hail reported in a number of areas - Hanley, Strongfield, and Grandora . Some of the storms caused crop and building damage. Spraying was slowed by windy weather and topsoil was dried. Topsoil moisture conditions improved slightly with reporters rating 90% of the crop land as having adequate topsoil moisture, compared to 85% last week. There are still lots of sloughs and puddles to go around. 7The area rated as having short moisture conditions increased to 5%. On hay and pasture land, reporters rated 93% of the land as having adequate moisture. Tractors are still getting stuck in the Arelee and Unity areas. West central farmers report 35% of the 2007 crop planted, up from 7% last week. Crop District 7b is furthest advanced at 43% seeded, and CD 6b is least advanced at 21% seeded. Sixty-eight per cent of the peas have been planted, as well as 55% of the lentils, 41% of the canola, 39% of the durum, 33% of the wheat, 25% of the chickpeas, 21% of the mustard, 19 % of the barley, 14% of the canary seed, 9% of the sunflowers, 5% of the oats, 4% of the flax, and 2% of the triticale. Some seeding plan changes include less wheat, more peas, more barley, and different fields being seeded due to surplus run-off. Shortages of some chemicals were reported. Weed growth is heavy.
A windy week in the northeast gave drying conditions until rains arrived in some areas. An average of 9 mm of precipitation was reported. This ranged from an average low of 7 mm reported in CD 8b to an average high of 12 mm in CD 8a. Over 30 mm was reported in the Pleasantdale area. Some pea-sized hail was reported in the Tisdale area. Strong winds hampered spraying. The winds also caused soil erosion in the Codette area. 6 Topsoil moisture conditions improved as reporters rated 57% of the land as having surplus moisture, down from 77% last week. Reporters rated 60% of the hay and pasture land as having adequate topsoil moisture. Some seeding progress was made this past week. North eastern farmers report 5% of the 2007 crop planted, up from less than 1% planted last week. District 8a is furthest advanced at 6% seeded. More good weather is needed to move seeding along. Farmers are getting stuck in the Porcupine Plain and Bruno areas. Roads are still soft and moving around with machinery and crop inputs is challenging. Cattle are still being fed hay. Farmers are harrowing and applying fertilizer. North western Saskatchewan (Crop Districts 9aw & 9b)
This past week brought wind, thundershowers, and snow to the northwest. An average of 6 mm of precipitation was reported, with some locations reporting up to 15 mm. The winds slowed down some spraying operations. Reporters rate 89% of crop, hay and pasture land as having adequate topsoil moisture conditions, compared to 83% last week. Ten per cent of the crop land and 9% of the hay and pasture land are rated in a surplus topsoil moisture condition. Fields are still wet and there are still problems with some of the roads. Many low spots will not get seeded this spring. Some seeding progress was made during the past week. North western farmers report 19% of the 2007 crop planted, up from 4% last week. Crop District 9b is furthest advanced at 23% seeded. Farmers are applying fertilizer and picking rocks. Cattle are being moved out to pastures though many are still being fed hay.
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