Saskatchewan Seeding Nearly Complete

VANCOUVER - Jun 8/12 - SNS -- Seeding is entering its final stages in much of Saskatchewan, though it seems less likely that farmers will be able to finish seeding all crops because soils in some areas remain too wet to support machinery.

As of June 4, Saskatchewan Agriculture believes 91% of all intended area has been planted in the province. This is ahead of the recent five-year average of 86% planted by the first week of June and well ahead of last year's pace, when just 79% was planted by the time.

Roughly 80% of the crop is seeded in the southeastern region, 94% in the southwest and west central areas, 84% in the east-central area and 95% in the northeastern and northwestern regions.

Rain was recorded in some areas of the province, delaying seeding operations. Producers in some areas of the eastern regions are dealing with very wet soil conditions.

The majority of spring cereal crops are in the preemergent and emerging stages of crop development. Fall cereals are in the jointed to shot-blade stage. The majority of pulse crops are emerging and in the vegetative stages; canola and mustard crops mostly are pre-emergent or in the emerging stages of development. Province-wide, 20% of the canola and mustard is in the seedling stage.

The following table shows the estimated area sown to each crop. The numbers are estimated based on regional seeding progress in Saskatchewan. The provincial agriculture department did not break down seeding progress by all crops for all districts.