Producers in Saskatchewan are wasting no time in getting into the field – as spring seeding is already 18 per cent complete across the province.

Despite several storms during the month of April, producers have been able to make some serious progress, with the current metric outstripping Saskatchewan’s 10-year average of 12 per cent.

In terms of regions, Saskatchewan’s southwest is furthest along with 43 per cent of land seeded, as of May 5.

The northwest and southeast report 15 and 14 per cent completion respectively while the west central region reported 11 per cent.

Bringing up the rear are the east-central and northeast – both reporting nine per cent.

Naturally, pulse crops are leading in terms of completion. Lentils are 34 per cent seeded while field peas and chickpeas are recorded at 31 and 28 per cent respectively. Durum comes in second overall with 33 per cent seeded while triticale (31 per cent), barely, (19 per cent), and spring wheat (13 per cent), oats and canary seed (four per cent) follow behind.

Mustard leads the oilseeds at 21 per cent. Canola is reported to be at 10 per cent while flax remains at six per cent.

The province noted that limited moisture over the previous week has allowed seeding to progress quickly through most regions. The highest rainfall was reported in the Alida area (16 mm) while Lafleche recorded (12 mm).

Overall, most topsoil in the province remains at adequate moisture levels – with the vast majority of cropland (78 per cent), hayland (71 per cent) and pasture land (68 per cent) moisture are reported to be adequate.

However, drier conditions have been reported in some areas.

According to the province, 76 per cent of crop reporters say the amount of runoff received for this year would be enough to replenish dugouts and other bodies of water in their areas. This differs in the southwest, where 52 per cent of producers said the opposite.