A farmer's field just northeast of Prince Albert. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Crop moisture

Snow not dampening farmers’ spirits

May 3, 2019 | 4:44 PM

The fresh blanket of snow on the ground this week, should make farmers happy, after concerns about dry crops.

Ryan Scragg farms northeast of Prince Albert and said he did not mind the snow, but would have preferred a warm rain.

“At the end of the day not too many people have any crop in the ground, nothing has emerged yet, so it’s not going to damage crops,” he said.

Scragg planned to start seeing this weekend said the snow may delay his start by four or five days. Barton Franc farms in the Davis area and said he too was not worried about the snow.

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“It’s still kind of early yet so I wouldn’t say it’s really going to set things back too far; as long as the weather starts clear up pretty soon,” he said.

By mid-afternoon Friday. most of the snow had already melted away. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

According to this week’s crop report, one per cent of the crop in the northeast region has been seeded, which is on par with the five-year average for this time of year. Provincially, five per cent of the 2019 crop is now in the ground.

Cropland topsoil moisture has been rated as four per cent surplus, 72 per cent adequate, 22 per cent short and two per cent very short. Hay land and pasture topsoil moisture have been rated as six per cent surplus, 71 per cent adequate, 20 per cent short and three per cent very short.

The recent cooler temperatures and precipitation has also helped ease concerns around grass fires. A number of rural municipalities (RMs) in the Prince Albert area lifted their fire bans on Friday including the R.M.’s of Prince Albert, Garden River, Paddockwood, Leask and Buckland.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell