The warm temperatures are drying surface water on the land and getting the frost out of the soil.

“Right now, the plan is to start seeding around May 7th,” says Jim Wickett, a farmer in the Rosetown area. “No one has been on the land yet, it is still a little wet in spots. That’s a week-and-a-half away. We’ll see what happens once the neighbours hit the field, sometimes things get sped up, but the plan right now for myself is May 7th.”

Wickett says there will be a lot of canola seeded and fewer pulse crops, due to tariffs imposed by India.

Norm Hall farms in the Wynyard area, which is about 190 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon.

“You go west into Dafoe area, they’ll probably be seeding by the middle of next week. As you move north and east through this Quill Basin, it gets later and later.”

Hall estimates seeding could start around Wynyard late next week, with Wadena and Foam Lake another half-week or full week later.

(photo: courtesy of Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan)