Rags and riches

Most years, there’s a wide variation in Saskatchewan fields. Seldom is it as extreme as this year. In many cases, the millions of acres of unseeded and flooded land is a mess. It was too wet for good weed control early in the season. It’s common to see waste-high weeds that are drying down from a herbicide application with the telltale ruts from the sprayer tires filled with water. In some cases, as the land dries, producers are resorting to tillage to break down the weed residue and fill in the ruts. While some of the crops in the wet zones are stunted and spindly, there are also some good crops, although many of them are two or three weeks late. On the western side of the province where the flooding wasn’t as serious, there are some absolutely excellent crops. If hail and frost stay away, there will be producers who harvest their biggest crop ever. Contrast that with producers who didn’t get a single acre seeded and you get an idea of the tremendous range in fortunes across the province. I’m Kevin Hursh.