Precipitation is falling on Saskatchewan, with many areas even seeing snowfall as temperatures hover near the freezing point.

While that moisture may not be welcome for anyone who had plans outside over the past couple of days, the incoming rain and snow are great news for farmers.

That's because it's coming after a year where drought was a common occurrence, from a winter that had little snow to a summer with baking temperatures and clear skies.

Now, farmers will be hoping that rain and snow over the coming months will replenish moisture levels in the soils of fields.

An Agrologist with Western Ag Professional Agronomy, Edgar Hammermeister says it's been an excellent rain so far.

"We've received a very gentle rain here over the last day or so and that, as it's coming down slow, is letting it soak into the very dry soil," said Hammermeister, "The soil had actually gone dormant with no biological activity because it's so dry. This little bit of moisture will help residue start breaking down and the soil biology starts to break down and release nutrients. Those nutrients will be available for next year's crops."

Hammermeister says that most farmers will be looking for a cooler fall, in order to keep all that moisture coming down in the ground.

"How much is going to hang around for next year will be influenced by how warm the rest of the fall is going to be. This coming down at a cool time is certainly letting the moisture soak in and there's no evaporation right now," said Hammermeister, "But how much this half-inch is going to help for next year's crop is going to be determined by how open this fall is and do we get back to above normal temperatures."

Unfortunately for farmers, but fortunate for anyone looking at weekend activities, temperatures are set to rise again this weekend with sunny weather and a high of 20 degrees, which will likely end up drying some of this precipitation.

"Well, it's going to start drying out that surface. 20 degrees isn't hot by any stretch, but that sun still has some warmth in it, and certainly, we'll be having some evaporation on the surface. It's nice knowing that it can rain again and help any of the fall-seeded crops get some moisture," said Hammermeister, "But we'll certainly need more, farmers will welcome any rain that can come to our direction this fall."