Alameda farmer Edgar Hammermeister says the snow that blanketed southeast Saskatchewan this week is not ideal for the fields, particularly for farmers east of Estevan toward the Manitoba border.

"We had a lot of snow, and so the soils were quite full for moisture. East of Estevan would have had more soil moisture than west of Estevan," Hammermeister said. "This will cause some significant delays in seeding compared to what we're normally trying to do."

Hammermeister said normally farmers try to start seeding by the end of April, but that won't be the case this year.

"This will delay us into May," he said. "Sometimes the soil can surprise the farmers as to how quickly the fields can dry when the frost comes out fully. But it'll be a little bit of a wait and see with that."

He said he's hoping for certain weather conditions over the next few weeks.

"Lots of sunshine and a light breeze," he said. "It needs to be warming up here, and it's going to be taking a little while. It's going to be a cool start to May here. Hardly seeing any 20 degree temperatures until the third week of May almost. But that's fine, we just need the sunshine and light breeze. There's energy in the sun as long as it's present, and then we can work with the rest."

He added that Environment Canada is forecasting a dry month for May as well.

Hammermeister said he's hoping to get started in the first week of May, but that he'll have to be selective on his fields.

Areas to the west of Estevan benefited more from the moisture, Hammermeister added.