Spring seeding for farmers is lagging a little bit behind in the southeast, according to Crops Extension Specialist Matthew Struthers.

"Down in the southeast, it's actually the one region in the province that we haven't heard much activity out of when it comes to seeding," explained Struthers. "Certainly after the amount of snowfall and that late spring storm that the south got, certainly there's a lot of producers out there dealing with excess moisture."

"So they're likely looking by the end of next week, going into the second or third week of May, looking to get into their fields. But certainly there is still a lot of water out there. I know in that heavy clay soil...that water stays around for quite some time."

Struthers added that there is still a lot of time to get the seeds into the ground, but that some farmers may need to improvise.

"It's still very early May, there's plenty of time. The crop insurance cut offs are late June, so obviously there's still plenty of time to get that seed in the ground," he said.

"The biggest thing is, depending on the area, there might just be parts of fields that producers don't seed this year. A large amount of water that doesn't leave that field and they'll just have to seed around those wet areas and just leave them for another year where they dry up."

Struthers said other regions of the province have been slow as well, but that seeding is getting started in the Moose Jaw area along with the southwest corner, and further north toward North Battleford.

"Lots of activity out there...it all depends on the soil temperature and moisture, and the anxiety that some producers have to get out there and get that seed in the ground," he said. "I know it's a lot of stress, not seeing the progress you've seen in previous years, but there's still plenty of time."

Struthers said barring any heavy rains in the province, farmers should be able to get out into their fields sooner rather than later. 

"If we keep getting gorgeous blue sky days, they'll be able to get out into their fields in no time," he said.

"I'm optimistic for the year."