Crops are coming along even with such a terrible start to the season, according to Weyburns agrologist, Elaine Moats. Recorded in Saskatchewan Agricultures weekly crop report, some warm weather has helped advance crops; however, most are still one to two weeks behind in normal development.Crops are looking pretty good but there are quite a few drown out spots, said Dale Paslawski, a farmer north of Weyburn. There is a bit of smut and I have lost of weeds and wild oats in my crops but I havent had an opportunity to spray.There has been reports of grasshoppers causing damage to crop land. Grasshoppers are fairly general across the south part of the province and have been spotted in lentil crops. They are hard to miss because they feed on the blossoms, so it is worth checking the fields closely for, said Moats.There is more leaf disease spotted in cereal crops due to a combination of weather and humidity, according to Moats. Lentil, pea and chick pea producers should be extra careful by applying fungicides. There has been a higher than usual level of application to cereal crops due to the disease pressure. There have been few reports of spraying for the diamondback moths, it is fairly localized but keep an eye out for the diamondback moth.According to the department of Agriculture, They have been monitoring the bertha armyworm moth. There are a number of people who trap these moths and count them to see the potential damage, explained Moats. In some locations the count is higher than normal. I recommend scouting the late fields of canola for the bertha armyworm moth.Better weather conditions during the past week allowed producers to get some field work done. Farmers are busy haying, controlling weeds in chemfallow, controlling diseases, insects and hauling grain. There were reports of farmers controlling wheat midge.Although crop staging is variable, there are reports of cereal crops heading out, canola crops flowering and flax in the stem extension to flowering stage. Crops have a whole range of things happening, said Moats. The crops that are not suffering from tremendous amounts of water are looking good.Moats stated that canola crops are finishing blooming and the advanced flax crops are full bloom but the later crops have not yet bloomed. There is a fair amount of cereal crops that have not headed yet, pea crops that are flowering and lentil crops are looking good but in this range there are crops that are damaged due to flooding.Stated in the crop report, topsoil moisture conditions on cropland are reported as 27 per cent surplus, 72 per cent adequate and one per cent short. Paslawski said, Some crops are rooted shallow because it was so wet they didnt get a chance to root down. We could stand about an inch of rain but the hay guys would not want to see it. The top three inches of field is dried out but if I dig down to where I have cultivated there is moisture, added Paslawski. According to the weekly crop report topsoil moisture conditions on cropland are reported as 27 per cent surplus, 72 per cent adequate and one per cent short.Crop district 3ASE is reporting topsoil moisture on cropland is seven per cent surplus, 87 per cent adequate and six per cent short. Rain throughout the area has slowed producers slightly from production, with 28 per cent of the hay cut and 26 per cent baled or put into silage. There is 46 per cent of the hay crop is still standing and 84 per cent of the hay crop is rated good to excellent.The swaths have been slow to dry due to high humidity, wet ground and rain. Hayland is absolutely the most outstanding hay crop I have seen in my life, its unbelievable due to ideal conditions with moisture and sunshine, said Paslawski.A third of the hay crops are cut and about the same has been bailed or silage, with half of the hay crop still standing. Hay crops are holding a lot of moisture so producers are letting it lay longer to cure and are raking the hay the day after to help it dry faster, said Paslawski. We cant wrap a bail when it is wet otherwise it will catch on fire or get mold and mildew. This year has been a record hay crop for south east Saskatchewan. The hay crop yields on hay generally very good at this point. People have reported yields of two to three ton acres on tame forges. The challenge has been to get this stuff bailed up in good enough conditions that they dont get moldy in the bails or over heat, Moats said.Scattered showers fell throughout the region.. The Kisbey area received 68 mm of rain, Indian Head, Whitewood and Tantallon areas received 19 mm, and the Fillmore and Radville areas 5 mm.
