Ag producers were ready to see the moisture come to parched fields and pastures this week.

Local producer, Russell Thiessen, farms land and cattle in the Griswold-Oak Lake area.

Thiessen says they received between 4-6 inches of snow, which provided much-needed moisture.

“It’s absolutely wonderful to see it,” shares Thiessen.  “It means that we can have a good start to spring now and those things are going to grow now as well as for pastures as well as being able to get onto the land and start putting the crop in.”

Conditions were fairly dry in the RM of Sifton, but Thiessen says they weren’t as dry just south of them.  “We weren’t as bad off as further south. By even a half hour or 45 minutes south it was drier.  But we were definitely dry.  Any waterholes, any sloughs, any areas that normally contain water, or retain water for spring run-off, they were all dry.”

“I think this is going to give us some run-off to hopefully recharge some of that,” he adds, “and also it will be good for the aquifers here too.”

Thiessen says they’ll be waiting a couple of weeks before putting the seed in the ground.  “I don’t know of any guys in our area who were actually putting any crop in.  I know there were some floaters going putting some fertilizer in.”

“But we’ll be right on time now that we’ve got this moisture.  Seeding will be right on time as per usual.”

Spring calving is underway, and the snow has created its own set of challenges.  But still, the positives outweigh the muddy conditions!