Canada Markets

Seeding progress in Saskatchewan is taking place at a rapid rate, with this week's provincial crop report showing an estimated 38% of the province's cropland seeded, as of May 13, a 25-point increase from the 13% estimate in the week prior. This is only 1 point behind the pace set in 2018 for this same week, when the estimate for seeded acres jumped by 26 points to 35% complete.

The current pace of progress is ahead of the 31% five-year average as well as the 10-year average pegged at 24%.

As fieldwork continues, producers in many areas look to the skies in hope of rain, the exact opposite situation faced by United States producers where current discussion points to millions of potential acres that may not be seeded. In the U.S., a combination of excessive rains and late planting is expected to trim yield potential for many crops. While Thursday was expected to be dry for many areas south of the border, Friday is to turn wet, while the seven-day NOAA chart pointing to the potential for 4-6 inches of precipitation through the central states.

A friend from Saskatchewan recently stated online that he's spent his whole life waiting for the next rain, while 2019 is no different.

The red line on the attached chart shows the trend in the percent of Saskatchewan cropland where topsoil moisture is rated either dry or very dry for the current crop year, which has moved from 37% of the province, as of the April 29 report, to 47% in the most recent May 13 report.

The blue line represents the trend for 2018. This similar trend broke in the week following the May 21 report after reaching a high of 53% and slipped to the seasonal low of 18% just three weeks later.

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

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