Farmscape for May 18, 2018

Saskatchewan Agriculture reports rain is needed across much of the province to give crops a good start.
Saskatchewan Agriculture's weekly crop report, released yesterday, indicates 35 percent of the crop is now in the ground, just ahead of the five year average of 32 percent with the southeast being the furthest advanced at 49 percent complete, 45 percent complete in the southwest, 28 percent in the northeast, 26 percent in the west central and 24 percent in the east central and northwest regions.
Daphne Cruise, a Cropping Management Specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture, says because of warm and windy conditions the past couple of weeks soil moisture conditions have declined.

Clip-Daphne Cruise-Saskatchewan Agriculture:
The south regions and the west central regions and central are the areas that could really use a good half inch to inch of rain to help replenish that topsoil moisture.
The northeast, northwest and east central areas are doing fairly decent for moisture at this point to get the crop up and growing.
Those areas did have more snowfall during the winter and so some of those fields are relying on that snowfall.
However in the next could of weeks we're going to need some significant rain for our southern and west central producers.
When we look across the province the topsoil moisture conditions on the crop land are rated 57 percent adequate, 35 percent short and eight percent very short.
Hay and pastureland topsoil moisture is 40 percent adequate, 43 percent short and 17 percent very short.
Hopefully we can get some moisture here in the next couple of weeks to help the livestock producers look forward to a decent crop, hopefully.

Cruise says we are starting to see crops emerge and, for the most part, things are coming up in fairly good condition although there have been reports of patchy emergence of canola in the southeast due to the lack of topsoil moisture.
She says if we were to receive rain, even if seeding was delayed no one would mind.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

       *Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork