Agriculture Minister David Marit optimistic about impact of rain on crops

A hot topic at Canada’s Farm Show this week has been the amount of rain falling on the province.

The province has seen an uncharacteristically soggy spring leading up to the 47th edition of the show this week at the REAL District grounds in Regina, with overcast conditions, rain and even thunderstorms hitting Saskatchewan in the days ahead of the event.

It is a far cry from the drought-like conditions that posed problems for Saskatchewan farmers in recent years, but now the question is whether there is too much rain, and whether it has impacted seeding and other operations for 2024.

Agriculture Minister David Marit was asked Tuesday about the rain and what it means for farmers getting their crops in. He pointed out some parts of Saskatchewan have received significantly more rain than others.

“For the most part, I think we’re sitting pretty good, but there is obviously some parts that are getting wet,” Marit said. “But it’s not new to the province either, and we’ll get through it.”

But despite some local issues, Marit was optimistic about what the rainfall means for this year’s crops.

“I think we’re at 98 per cent of the crop is in the ground, which is a good sign,” said Marit.

“For the most part, the province is sitting in pretty good moisture condition.”

Last week’s provincial crop report, for the week up to June 9, stated that the majority of crops were reported in good to excellent condition given the moisture received. But rainfall slowed down the tail end of seeding in the northeast and east-central regions, the report noted.