(submitted photo/Ministry of Agriculture)

By Alice McFarlane

Saskatchewan Crop Report

Severe storms impact crops in parts of Saskatchewan

Jul 9, 2020 | 1:48 PM

Mother Nature had a big impact on Saskatchewan crops this past week.

Several areas received rain but depending where you live some was welcome and some was not.

Crops extension specialist Sara Tetland said most of the province received rain.

“The southeast and east central regions got beneficial rainfall. Some parts of these regions were getting quite dry, so thankfully we did see some rain in these regions of the province,” Tetland said.

The latest report from Ministry of Agriculture indicated a hail and windstorm July 2 resulted in widespread crop and property damage, particularly in areas around Tisdale, Sask.

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Tetland said the continued rains in the northwest and northeast region have resulted in surplus moisture.

“Farmers have reported standing water in the fields and this has caused crop damage,” she said.

In the northwest, warm conditions supported crop development during the reporting period of June 30 to July 6, with crops behind their normal stage of development for this time of year due to cool temperatures earlier in the season. Most of the crop damage this week was from isolated flooding, hail and wind.

Crops improved in the east central district with warm weather and rain, but farmers in some areas indicated noticeable effects from the lack of moisture to crop, hay and pastureland.

Rob Stone farms in the Davidson area. He is pleased with crop development.

“We’re hitting our marks with canola flowering July long weekend and heading on the earlier wheat which is right on time and lentils are in early flowering and are getting sprayed so the activity lines up with the calendar,” Stone said.

Moisture and heat in the west central region helped crop and pasture development advance. Hay land and pastures are looking good in the region, and farmers are busy haying.

Hot, dry weather led to a localized severe outbreak of grasshoppers in the Qu’Appelle valley.

Provincial insect specialist James Tansey said the heavy damage is around a three to four-kilometre area near Fairy Hill.

“The site that we looked at numbered in excess of 100 per square metre when you consider the economic threshold is 10 to 12 per square metre that’s tenfold over that,” Tansy said.

A pasture was heavily damaged and eaten down to the ground with only cruciferous weeds left and one-third of a nearby cereal crop was destroyed. Tansey said this was an isolated incident.

Conditions in the southeast part of the province improved in areas that received rain.

The southeast district reported isolated hail and windstorms causing significant damage to some crop land and properties. Multiple tornados also touched down in the region.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF