Farmers in southeast Sask. optimistic as rain eases dry conditions

Recent rain appears to have relieved some dry conditions in the southeast corner of Saskatchewan.

That’s according to Lee Stanley, a farmer near Gainsborough, who said on the Greg Morgan Morning Show that conditions for seeding are improving.

“We started fairly dry, but we’ve had a few showers, around half-an-inch (12.7 millimetres) over a few days last week,” he said.

“It’s pretty much ideal if we could control the weather.”

Listen to Lee Stanley on the Greg Morgan Morning Show

With that, Stanley explained the hope is the rain will hold off until farmers finish seeding.

“Everybody’s probably going pretty hard (seeding) here right now. I started last Wednesday and had the weekend, so now we need to switch over to oats after this rain that is coming today (Monday).”

“Then hopefully by the time we’ve got those in, the weather will be warm enough that we can get canola.”

But he added that continued moisture in June will be crucial for their crops to thrive.

Meanwhile, despite dry conditions last year, Stanley said they grew a decent crop due to adequate subsoil moisture.

“It’s been so wet down in this corner in previous years, and it has dried up the last few, but nothing like what us old guys remember from back in the 80s,” said Stanley.

“Plus, technology is better now and our farming practices so we can grow a better crop with less moisture.”