Canada Markets

Saskatchewan Agriculture's weekly crop report indicates further topsoil moisture deterioration over many areas of the province as of the week ending June 29, along with further cuts to crop ratings. Across the province, topsoil moisture was rated at 68% short to very short, up from 52% the previous week. All six regions showed deteriorating soil moisture, with the largest week/week degradation seen in the north-west and east-central regions.

Hot, dry conditions combined with damage from grasshoppers, hail and wind have led to further deterioration of the crop, with the Good to Excellent ratings lowered for all crops except for winter wheat when compared to the June 15 ratings. Reports suggest the crop is patchy and many fields have uneven germination, while many crops are short and thin and are flowering too prematurely. The hardest hit crops in the past two weeks are soybeans, with the Good to Excellent rating falling 17% to 52% Good to Excellent and mustard falling 15% to 18% Good to Excellent.

The durum crop rating fell 12% to 29% Good to Excellent, which compares to 76% this time last year and the four-year average of 77.5% for the end of June. The flax rating also fell by 12% to 39% Good to Excellent, which compares to 57% last year and the four year average of 61.75%.

Saskatchewan's spring wheat rating fell just 5% to 52% Good to Excellent as compared to 69% last year and the four-year average of 73.25%. The canola rating fell just 1% in the past two weeks to 46% Good to Excellent, which compares to 62% last year and the average of the past four years at 64.25%.

Alberta's weekly crop report also indicated declining ratings for surface soil moisture, with the Poor to Fair surface soil moisture category increasing from 70.6% of the province on June 23 to 78.6% as of June 29.

The Good to Excellent rating for all crops is reported at 30.39%, down from 38.2% in the past week. The spring wheat crop rating has fallen from 42.9% Good to Excellent to 33.1% in the past week. The canola crop has fallen from 31.4% to 24.9% Good to Excellent, the lowest rating for any crop in the province. The highest rated crops are dry beans, indicated at 82% Good to Excellent, and dry peas at 40.7% Good to Excellent across the province.

Media has made references to the 2002/03 prairie drought when comparing this year's potential. In that particular year, Environment Canada named the "extreme" drought on the prairies as the worst weather story of the year. Canada's all-wheat production fell 22.6% from the previous year to 15.961 mmt, the lowest volume produced in fourteen years. Wheat exports fell 43% year/year to 9.2 million metric ton.

Cliff Jamieson can be reached at cliff.jamieson@dtn.com

Follow Cliff Jamieson on Twitter @CliffJamieson

(SK)

© Copyright 2015 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.