Saskatchewan farmers wrapping up seeding operations

Jun 17, 2022

Seeding is nearly complete in Saskatchewan.

According to the weekly crop report from the Ministry of Agriculture, 98 per cent of the crop is in the ground in areas where seeding was possible.

The ministry said some fields in eastern Saskatchewan were too wet to seed and, with recent rains, those fields likely won’t be seeded this year.

That rain caused minor to serious flooding in some areas, but was welcome in other regions where fields were dry.

“In the west, the rain will hopefully allow crops to recover from the drought conditions, but due to the localized nature of the rainfall, much of the western regions will need more widespread rains soon to keep crops from failing,” the report said.

“Some areas received hail over the past week. Damage is currently unknown since many crops have not yet emerged, but enough hail was received in some areas to make it appear as if it had snowed.”

That was the case last Thursday in the Grand Coulee area.

An area north of Rosetown got the most rain during the week, with more than 125 millimetres falling Monday alone. According to the ministry, most of the water in that area soaked into the ground due to dry conditions.

The rain helped improve topsoil moisture conditions in the province. Cropland topsoil moisture now is rated at seven per cent surplus, 65 per cent adequate, 19 per cent short and nine per cent very short, while hay and pasture land is rated as six per cent surplus, 61 per cent adequate, 24 per cent short and nine per cent very short.

“For some hay fields in drier areas, the rain might have come too late and the hay crop may not be ready for first cut in a couple of weeks,” the report said. “In areas where moisture was abundant, the crops look very good.”

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.