Producers have been hard at work in the southeast trying to get seeds in the ground even as the ground is still filled with moisture.

Spring seeding normally starts up near the beginning of May, but for many in the southeast, the current conditions mean they may have only started this week.

That puts them far behind other farmers in the province, with the western areas pulling ahead.

Ministry of Agriculture Crop Extension Specialist Mackenzie Hladun says that the average for the entire province is also below normal.

"Producers have made fantastic progress this past week with seeding. So now the province is sitting at 38 per cent completed seating in the province overall, this is up 29 per cent compared to last week. Our 38 per cent completed seeding is a little bit behind the five-year average of 53 per cent, but it's pretty close to our 10-year average of 44 per cent. 

"The Northwest is currently sitting at 55 per cent of the crop in the ground for the year, the West Central region is sitting at 54 per cent of the crop in the ground, and the southwest is sitting at 43 per cent. So overall, the West of the province is a little bit further ahead in seeding compared to the east side of the province. The Southeast region has the least amount of acres seeded right now, with 18 per cent of the crop in the ground."

That's mostly due to some recent rain showers that went through the east side of the province and delayed seeding, 

"Bienfait received about 78 mm of rain this past week, mostly over that Friday-Saturday range. Other notable region businesses that received some rain in the past week include the Vanguard region, which received 24 mm of rain, and the Marengo region, which received 22 mm of rain."

Hladun lays out just how some of the individual crops are doing for seeding so far.

"Field peas is the crop with the most seeding progress. Right now, they're sitting at about 54 per cent of the overall crop being seeded. Lentils are following closely behind, with 50 per cent of the crop seeded and Spring Wheat is sitting at 43 per cent of the crop seeded. Oats are sitting at 19 per cent seeded, Canola is also 19 per cent seeded, and Flax is at 10 per cent seeded. Soybeans are coming in with the least amount of seeded acres right now with 7 per cent of the overall crop."

Topsoil seems to be doing alright so far, but it'll likely start falling as there'll be less moisture and more sun.

"Overall topsoil moisture for the province is sitting at adequate. Still, there was a slight shift in this past week from adequate to short, however, the province overall is still sitting really well off the topsoil moisture. Topsoil moisture for cropland is reported as 69 per cent adequate and 24 per cent short and pasture and hayland topsoil moisture follows a very similar pattern with 63 per cent being adequate and 28 per cent being short."

She reminds farmers to stay careful during the seeding months, as that can be a stressful time. 

"This is just a particularly busy and stressful time of year for producers, so they're reminded to take any safety precautions that they can to make sure that they get home safe and sound to their families at night."