Seeding progress in the southeast has gone well as the area has missed out on any heavy rains which would have slowed progress.

Agrologist Edgar Hammermeister says he's seeing progress that shows some farmers are nearly done with seeding.

"We've overall had a very good run at it. I would estimate that we're in the north of 85 per cent done as an average. I know that there are a number of farm operations started to wrap up here the last couple of days and things are off to a really nice start." 

While a warning for an intense thunderstorm was given on the weekend, Hammermeister says that any potential hail wouldn't do much damage and could help crops.

"Even if there was hail at this time of year, there would be no impact on the crop. Everything is too small to really have any consequence. The scientific literature even indicates that the early hail on the cereals can actually stimulate a little bit of extra tillering and increase yield when it happens early."

Temperatures are dropping down this week to an unseasonable low, but Hammermeister say farmers have nothing to worry about, at least for seeding.

"It is a bit of a concern for the first-seeded canola that might have been coming through. I think there's enough humidity in the air, even though there was frost on the grass, I think it would have been a very mild defrost and I don't think that there was any damage caused on the canola that emerged."

"But it only happened here very recently and then we do need to give the plants a couple of days to start to grow again and we'll be assessing on the weekend here if there was in fact any frost damage."

Hammrmeister says we could see farmers finishing up seeing in the southeast as early as this week.

"There'll be a lot of guys wrapping up this weekend or shortly after. It was a good seeding season from everybody's reports and from my own experience here at Alameda. Just some odds and ends that need to get done and helping some neighbors out." 

Hammermeister says he hopes to see timely rains through the summer to carry the crop into the harvest.