CNS Canada — Seeding progress across Western Canada is running “well behind normal,” with only 59 per cent of intended acres in the ground as of Tuesday, said CWB analyst Bruce Burnett.
“Normally we’d be about three-quarters complete, and certainly in some areas of the Prairies we are likely to see some further planting delays because of rainfall that we’ve had over the past couple of weeks,” Burnett said in a report from the grain company formerly known as the Canadian Wheat Board.
Farmers in Alberta were farthest ahead, with seeding over 75 per cent complete in that province, while Manitoba was only 39 per cent finished overall. Seeding was 54 per cent complete in Saskatchewan as of Tuesday, according to CWB data.
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Crops in Saskatchewan are developing in opposite directions, the province’s latest crop report said. Growing conditions in the province vary, with some areas receiving enough rain while other locations are experiencing crop stress due to hot, dry conditions.
HOW’S SEEDING GOING? Send photos of your seeding work in progress to [email protected].
“This is a situation where we’re actually even behind last year’s late planting, which again was a significant factor with last year’s crop, but this is among one of the later-planted years that we’ve had” in history, said Burnett.
Concerns were greatest in areas of western Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan, he added.
“Those regions have very wet soil moisture conditions, and certainly the crops are not going to be seeded close to the normal time in those regions. And with any additional rain we could see significant delays in those areas as well.”
If wet weather persists in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Burnett said there could be some switching of acres from longer-season crops, such as soybeans, into shorter-season alternatives. [Related story]
“We are entering the end of the soybean planting period for crop insurance purposes in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and we could see those acres be put into another crop, perhaps canola first, and then into maybe some of the shorter seed cycle oilseed crops or cereal crops as we get into the first weeks in June,” he said. — CNS Canada
