Crop conditions and weather Harvest is now upon us. What started out as a growing season with ample rainfall and promise has turned into uncertainty after a hot and dry July and August. The early season precipitation produced tall and lush crop stands, but harvest reports in the province are pointing to a less than expected grain yield. The high temperatures during flowering and lack of rainfall during the reproductive stages of crop development likely had a detrimental impact on flower and seed formation and grain fill. At this point, it’s too late for rainfall to turn the crop yield around so dry and sunny weather will help farmers with this year’s harvest. But farmers will be looking forward to rainfall after the crop is off in order to recharge the soil moisture for next spring.

Crop conditions and weather The big weather event from this past week was all of the heat, heat, heat! Crops continue to look promising as they move into their reproductive stages, when flowers develop and begin the process of seed formation. Canola is flowering and now is the best time to visibly see how big of a canola-producer (and exporter) Saskatchewan really is. Flowering is still in the early stages, at approximately 30% bloom. Wheat is heading out and very soon will begin to develop and fill seeds in the heads. Soil moisture and rainfall is very important for the grain-filling process in the weeks to come.

Crop conditions and weather More rain and more wind were seen this past week, fortunately without the hail or tornadoes seen in other areas nearby. Crops are looking good and advancing well. Late-seeded canola is at the 3-4 leaf stage and earlier-seeded canola is beginning to bolt. “Bolting” is used to describe the stem elongation stage of canola when the flower buds that have formed in the centre of the rosette are pushed upwards. After a canola plant has bolted, the buds will open and flowering will begin. Late-seeded wheat is at the 3-4 leaf stage and early-seeded wheat is nearing or at the flag leaf stage. The flag leaf is the final leaf that emerges from the top of the plant before the head (which contains the flowers and, later on, the seeds) emerges. The flag leaf is the most important leaf of the wheat plant because it alone contributes to approximately half of the yield of the entire plant. What's going on in the field Farmers may be applying a second herbicide application in canola at the current stage of the crop. The herbicides applied to our canola crops only kill the weeds that have already emerged from the soil. In rainy years, like the one we’re experiencing this year, one of the challenges with weed control that farmers face is subsequent ‘flushes’ of weeds, where a whole new crop of weeds emerges that did not get controlled by the first herbicide application. If the canola is still small and cannot outcompete these new weeds very well, then a second herbicide application may be needed in order to control the weeds; otherwise, these weeds may steal resources from the crop and can also contribute to weed seeds being present in the harvested canola seed in the fall (called “dockage” - a cost to farmers when they sell their grain at the elevator). Farmers are also evaluating the effectiveness of their herbicide applications that have already taken place this season. Depending on the herbicide used, it can take a few days to a few weeks for herbicide symptoms to appear on the susceptible plants. How did the herbicide perform? Are the weeds dying? If the weeds aren’t dying, did something go wrong with the application, or should herbicide resistance in the specific weed species be suspected? Is there a flush of weeds emerged that are at a high enough population that will need a second herbicide application? Evaluating herbicide performance is an important pro-active component of herbicide and weed management for the farm - future improvements cannot be made if we don’t know what went right or wrong. Farmer's focus: insights for the week ahead Rainy weather contributes to plant disease. Farmers have disease and fungicides on their mind at this stage of the crop. Fungicides work by protecting the plant parts before the disease starts; if diseased spots are already visible, a fungicide will not be able to ‘cure’ those spots, and any yield damage will have already occurred. When deciding to apply a fungicide, farmers must assess the current crop conditions (plant stand density, crop moisture situation), pay attention to the weather forecast, calculate the costs of fungicide application vs the potential crop yield, and rely on their past experiences. The thinking for the farmer is not so much, “How much yield will I gain by applying a fungicide?” but rather, “How much yield will I lose if I don’t apply a fungicide?”. Fungicides are applied with the goal of preventing disease and protecting the crop yield that is currently there. Crop stage is extremely important for fungicide application because different diseases attack the crop at different growth stages, and because fungicides are all about disease prevention (not a cure), the application timing falls within a very short window. Earlier, it was mentioned that the flag leaf of wheat contributes greatly to final yield, so protecting the flag leaf becomes very important if disease conditions exist. If there is disease appearing on the upper leaves, a fungicide application at the flag leaf stage becomes very important to preserve crop yield. If leaf diseases are not too pressing when the flag leaf is emerged, then farmers may hold off this fungicide timing in favour of a slightly later application timing when the head has emerged in order to protect the crop from Fusarium head blight. More farmers are now spraying at the head timing because research has shown that this timing delivers the ‘best bang for their buck’, since the fungicide will protect the head as well as the flag leaf from disease. Author Jennifer Bogdan Agronomist Bridge to Land Water Sky Living Lab

Crop conditions and weather The spring rains have continued to fall, supporting healthy growth for the crops and pastures. We’ve had a cool, windy, rainy spring so far. Wheat is at the 4-6 leaf stage. Canola is at the 3-4 leaf stage, with some of the earlier seeded canola at the 5 leaf stage and the later seeded canola at the 2 leaf stage. Very few insect problems have been encountered this year. Some flea beetles, an insect pest that feeds on newly-emerged canola seedlings, have caused some problems in a few fields, but there have not been any large outbreaks of insects so far this year. What's going on in the field At this time of year, farmers are thick in the middle of herbicide application. Herbicides are used to kill the weeds in the field that compete with the crops for resources such as water and nutrients (fertilizer). Many years of research has shown that removing weeds early in the season produces the highest crop yield - the bigger the weed gets, the more resources it steals from the crop - so if May is ‘seeding season’, then June is ‘spraying season’. Windy and wet conditions have made spraying a challenge. Farmers cannot spray when the wind is blowing too strongly because the chemical droplets can be blown off of the field onto non-target crops and vegetation, causing plant damage. Farmers can reduce spray drift by changing their sprayer nozzles to ones that produce a larger-sized droplet or by spraying with a higher water volume, but these adaptations can only do so much. With the really high winds like we’ve been experiencing, all they can do is get up early to spray in the calmer morning until the winds pick up, park the sprayer during the day, and wait until the evening when (if) the winds die down. Sometimes, like this year, they may have to wait several days before they are able to resume spraying because it is too windy at all hours of the day. Since each herbicide has its own restrictions on the crop stage that you are allowed to apply the herbicide to the crop, long delays in spraying can cause challenges if the crop has grown out of its allowed herbicide application window. For example, the crop stage window for canola herbicides is generally between the cotyledon stage and 6 leaf/early bolting stage. For wheat, the crop stage is generally between the 3 or 4 leaf stage to just prior to the flag leaf stage (the flag leaf is the very last leaf to emerge from the top of the plant - when you see the flag leaf, you know that the wheat head/spike will be coming out next). Fortunately, the cool conditions have kept the crops from growing overly quickly and the crops are currently still within the growth stage window for herbicide application. With the rain comes robust crop growth. Cereal crops (wheat, barley, oats) will grow taller with more rainfall and some crop varieties are more prone to lodging. Lodging is when the crop lays down before harvest because the seed heads are heavy, and if a strong wind comes along, it will push the crop down. Lodged crops may be able to stand up a bit after, but in a lot of cases, they will remain on the ground, making it difficult to harvest the grain, and the grain can also lose its quality resulting in down-grading. Each cereal crop variety has a different lodging rating assigned to it during its time in the breeding research trials, so choosing a variety with a higher lodging resistance is one strategy that a farmer can do. Another tool that can be used to manage lodging is to apply a plant growth regulator (PGR) that causes the stems to become shorter and thicker, making the plant less prone to lodging. The crop stage timing to use a PGR is a very narrow window during the stem elongation period of the crop (when the crop begins to stretch upwards), which is the stage that the earlier wheat crops are currently approaching. PGRs can be applied by a ground sprayer or by aerial application. Farmer's focus: insights for the week ahead Farmers are looking for a number of different things at this time of the year, such as crop staging for herbicide application, insect issues, and early disease issues. Farmers are also evaluating how well their seeding went this year by taking plant counts and noting any areas of the field where plant emergence seems thinner - did they have seeding equipment issues? Is there an insect problem such as flea beetles or cutworms that are eating the crop? Did they seed too deep, causing the young seedlings to be delayed? Did they have root diseases that have delayed or killed seedlings? By scouting the crops and evaluating their seeding job this year, farmers can learn from their experience (good or bad) and tweak their seeding plans next year. Author Jennifer Bogdan Agronomist Bridge to Land Water Sky Living Lab

June 7, 2024 Things are about to get a whole lot tougher for Saskatchewan’s wetland birds. Wetlands are a vital component of ecosystems, with habitat in prairie pothole wetlands critical for numerous organisms, from birds to amphibians to invertebrates, including a suite of insects beneficial to crop production as pollinators or for preying on pests. Decades of wetland drainage, both in Saskatchewan and in other prairie provinces, has resulted in extensive loss of prairie wetland habitat. While this varies from place to place, as much as 70% of wetland area has been lost in some areas. Contrary to what the province of Saskatchewan’s recent ad campaign would like you to believe, best available estimates for the Prairie region indicate wetlands are being lost at a rate exceeding 10,000 hectares each year. If you are keeping track, this amounts to 25,000 football fields worth of wetlands — lost every year — many of them in Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan is the only prairie province without a wetland conservation policy. Manitoba is working toward maintaining wetland area through their no net-loss approach. In response to worsening drought conditions, Alberta recently announced an initiative to fund wetland restoration projects. Meanwhile in Saskatchewan, the province’s Water Security Agency is charging ahead with a policy that will promote extensive wetland drainage, while affording few protections to these natural features which provide extensive services for society. The science on what we can expect with continued loss of wetlands from rural landscapes and expanding urban footprints is clear. Beyond the destruction of valuable habitat for birds and other organisms, loss of wetlands will limit groundwater recharge, increase flooding, and contribute to enhanced nutrient pollution in our streams and lakes. The presence of wetlands on the landscape also provides carbon storage, and natural cooling, an increasingly important function in light of record high summer temperatures in recent years. If you think it is strange that the provincial agency tasked with protecting water quality, and reducing flood and drought damage, among other water security concerns, is taking action that will impair its ability to meet its own responsibilities, you would not be alone. Ongoing wetland drainage will enhance threats to water security in a province facing a multitude of water security challenges. Globally, as jurisdictions including the European Union, and even our provincial neighbours are looking carefully at maintaining and restoring wetlands as part of the solution to present environmental and economic challenges, it is hard to reconcile that Saskatchewan is doing the opposite. The Saskatchewan Water Security Agency is moving towards a target that will allow drainage of 50% of remaining pothole wetlands in Saskatchewan. This will not occur without costs to residents of the province. The $2 billion Sumas Prairie (British Columbia) flood of 2021 centred on the site of a former lake and wetland complex that had been drained. Continued pothole wetland drainage will increase flows, promote erosion and infrastructure damage, and raise flood risks. We can also anticipate risks of worsening water quality in our streams and lakes, and challenges in maintaining drinking water supplies that could face worsening risks of algae blooms, salinity issues, and carcinogenic disinfection byproducts. Sorry Manitoba, as our downstream neighbours you can expect these challenges to spread to your backyard too. For birds calling pothole wetlands home during part of the year, the writing is on the wall. Estimates suggest losses of upwards of 50% of wetland birds and dabbling ducks with loss of only 30% of wetland area. In some areas this level of wetland loss has already occurred, but these populations will continue to decrease with additional drainage. With wide ranging impacts of wetland drainage inevitable, maybe it isn’t just the wetland birds who should be alarmed. Author Dr. Colin Whitfield Assistant Professor University of Saskatchewan

Crop conditions and weather Seeding is wrapping up in the area. The rains this month have caused some seeding delays but overall the moisture has been welcomed to help recharge the land during this dry cycle. Early seeded crops such as wheat have started to emerge. With the soils warming up and moisture being adequate, it won’t be long until the other crops will emerge as well. What's going on in the field Two Variable Rate (VR) Fertilizer trials has been seeded on Mistawasis and Muskeg Lake Cree Nation. These trials will demonstrate the use of VR fertilizer application in which different rates of nitrogen (N) fertilizer will be applied to different areas of the field. In order to determine which rate of N should be applied, extensive soil sampling and field mapping was done in the fall to collect data on soil factors (texture, organic matter, salinity), water (dry and wet areas), and topography (low spots, mid-slopes, hilltops). Researchers from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) then pulled all of this data together in order to generate a field map that divides the field up into zones, from most productive areas to least productive areas. Each zone will have a different rate of N fertilizer applied to it, with the most productive areas of the field receiving the highest amount of N and the least productive areas receiving the lowest amount of N. This way, the farmer is not over-applying N fertilizer to areas of the field where the crop will never be able to use all of that nitrogen. As a result, there will not be excess N in the soil that can be lost to the environment, and the farmer is not wasting money on expensive nitrogen that the crop cannot use. Variable rate also allows the farmer to apply more N to the most productive areas of the field in order to maximize crop yield. In addition to VR, these fertilizer trials will also measure the impact of an Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizer (EEF) product called SuperU. SuperU is a specific type of N fertilizer that comes treated with products that help reduce N losses to the environment when the fertilizer breaks down into plant available N in the soil. These N losses can be in the form of a gas lost to the atmosphere and/or as nitrate leached below the rooting zone of the crop and potentially into the ground water. In order to measure N lost to the atmosphere, AAFC researchers have installed devices into the soil to capture and measure greenhouse gas emissions to determine the differences in N loss from SuperU compared to urea (the most common source of dry N fertilizer used in crop production). The VR trials on these fields will be repeated for two more years, for a total of 3 years (9 site-years) of data. Two weather stations have also been installed (one on each First Nation). Farmer's focus: insights for the week ahead Seeding is arguably the most important part of growing a crop. There’s a saying that goes, “Well-sown, half-grown”. Out of all of the factors that cannot be controlled in growing a crop (precipitation, temperature, frost, hail, etc), seeding is one of the times that a farmer has an important influence on the success of the crop. Farmers are paying careful attention to soil moisture levels, soil type, seeding depth, seeding rate, and fertilizer and seeding equipment settings in order to get their crops planted in a way that gets the seeds germinating and the plants emerging from the soil in a timely manner. After months and months of planning, now is the time to execute those plans and tweak them as needed. Author Jennifer Bogdan Agronomist Bridge to Land Water Sky Living Lab

Technician, Leah Richard using greenhouse gas sampling equipment

Connor and Lauren organizing equipment at a wetland in a field where a new land management practice will be applied (variable rate application). (Anita Alvarez)