Rent reduced for riders, early budget items approved by Regina Council
5h ago
Regina's city council covered a lot of ground in a three-hour meeting on Wednesday. With all members in attendance, coun...
With extremely dry conditions reported across most of Saskatchewan, many farmers are starting to face difficult decisions when it comes to seeding.
Jeff Hoiness farms about 10,000 acres near Allan, in the central part of the province.
He told 650 CKOM they’ve barely had any moisture this spring.
“It’s getting to the point of I’m hearing of some people quitting seeding until it rains, and we’re starting to really wonder if we should continue on until it rains,” he said, adding that the uncertainty was a source of stress for producers.
He said he has continued planting canola for now.
“It wouldn’t take much of a rain to get that crop started because it’s shallow-seeded, but at the end of the day you still need some and right now we’ve had none,” he said.
Environment Canada meteorologist Terri Lang told 650 CKOM this week that areas around Saskatoon and Regina have so far seen less than a 10th of their 30-year average moisture for the month of May.
She said the Regina area saw its driest March ever recorded but did manage to get back to average for April, while the region around Saskatoon saw the driest April on record.
Hoiness said cool conditions for much of the spring had maintained some moisture in the ground near his farm. However, with temperatures rising, he said things were approaching a critical point for producers and the various businesses that rely on them.
“This situation is real,” he said. “It’s not just a little dry. It’s a lot of people’s livelihoods. It indirectly or directly affects a lot of people, maybe more than people think.”