Third of Pulse Crop Behind Normal

VANCOUVER - Jun 20/13 - SNS -- Seeding of Saskatchewan's pulse and specialty crops is essentially complete, with farmers hoping their fields become dry enough to plant short season crops such as oats or green feed.

In its latest weekly crop progress updates, Saskatchewan Agriculture said farmers have planted 98%, similar to last year and ahead of the recent five-year average of 89% complete by the middle of June. Regionally, 94% of the crop is seeded in the southeast while the remaining regions all have 99% of the crop seeded.

Most of Saskatchewan received significant rainfall between June 10 and 17, which delayed field work and spraying operations. Many regions received more than two inches of rain while some northern regions are reporting almost four inches of rain. This helped push the percentage of land with excess moisture to 18%, while 79% has adequate subsoil moisture and only 3% is short.

At this time, 67% of fall cereals, 57% of spring cereals, 54% of oilseeds and 62% of pulses are at their normal stage of development for this time of year. The majority of crops are in fair to good condition. Some crops have been damaged due to flooding, wind and insects such as cutworms and flea beetles.