(Resource News International) — Widespread rainfall over the weekend provided much-needed precipitation for some of the drier areas of Saskatchewan.
But the moisture may have come too late for some crops and was all but non-existent in most of the dry areas of Alberta, Bruce Burnett, head of the Canadian Wheat Board’s weather and crop surveillance department, said Monday.
While 15 millimetres of rain were reported in Edmonton, “Alberta mostly missed out on the precipitation,” said Burnett.
“On the Saskatchewan side they did get some very good rains — anywhere from 15 to 30-plus millimetres — depending on the area,” he said.
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The rains were welcome, but could have come too late for some crops, he said
“It’s a good rain — it would have been better if it had been three weeks ago,” Burnett said, noting yield losses are already expected in many cases.
For fields that had not germinated yet due to dryness, the weekend moisture basically works out to a seeding date of June 22, Burnett said, and that will likely be too late to get a crop.
However, those fields only germinating now could provide potential greenfeed opportunities for livestock producers, as feed supplies are short in those dry areas, he said.
For those fields that were already established, the weekend rains should cause the crops to pick up, Burnett said, adding that “hopefully this is the start of more rain.”
