(Alice McFarlane/farmnewsNOW Staff)

By Alice McFarlane

Seeding

Seeding still a few weeks away

Apr 23, 2019 | 1:04 PM

It won’t be long before seeding gets underway in the northeast part of the province. While some areas are in desperate need of rain, the Melfort area is in good shape.

Ministry of Agriculture Crops Extension Specialist Kim Stonehouse is based in Tisdale. He said the northeast area includes St. Brieux and east to the Manitoba border and from Kelvington north to the provincial forest.

“With the rains we had last fall and the average or just above average snowfall most of the northeast is actually sitting pretty good for moisture conditions right now,” Stonehouse said. “I would say that it’s mostly fully recharged. For the most part the soil moisture conditions are really good right now.”

Stonehouse said growers in this region are fortunate because a majority of the province is extremely dry.

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The first seeding could be a few weeks away. Stonehouse said the concern with seeding too early is spring frost and cold soil temperatures.

“We can always have those spring frosts and producers would like to avoid that for sure. I would suspect in the next week or so if the soil temperatures warm up they may start putting some seed in the ground, of course, cautiously,” Stonehouse said. “Maybe some of the cereals first because they can take a bit heavier frost than something like canola.”

Stonehouse said it’s not uncommon for producers to wait until the second week of May although earlier seeding will mean an earlier harvest. It’s recommended the top six inches of soil should be at least five degrees before you start seeding.

“Plants can actually germinate. If it’s too cold they’ll just sit there and it’s not good for the seed to sit in the soil for too long so five degrees or above is where we recommend you can start seeding,” Stonehouse said.

Spring showers will still be crucial for good crop development.

“We have good subsoil moisture to get things started and the plants should do really well off the hop and get up and growing. The worst thing that could happen is that we get into a long dry spell where the plants start growing lushly and then they run out of water. That could be very detrimental to a crop. Timely rains are always important,” Stonehouse said.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF