Sales of fertilizer so far this spring show farmers are eager to take advantage of good moisture conditions to produce a high-yield crop.
That's the word from Jack Giroux, manager of Wey-Better Yields, who said input sales were slow through the fall and winter, due to a lack of cash flow and storage space, but picked up this spring with hopes of a good crop.
"A lot of guys are trying to grow big yields to offset the commodity prices, so recent fertilizer sales have been pretty strong," said Giroux.
It's a similar story for chemicals, with sales of pre and post-emergent herbicides expected to be fairly high.
"The pre-emergent herbicide season is a bit off because of the recent weather conditions, with the wind and rain," said Giroux. He expects post-emergent sales to be higher than normal for that reason.
While the diamond back moth and bertha army worm aren't anticipated to be a problems this year, the wheat midge forecast predicts pockets of high infestation in the Weyburn area. Most farmers will likely spray their cereal crops, Giroux said.
Grasshoppers, forecasted to be a problem only in the extreme southeast corner of the province, could also become a cause for concern, said Giroux.
"I have heard quite a few guys saying there were significant grasshoppers last fall," he said, of farmers south and west of Weyburn. "That one really depends on the weather conditions. Anytime we have this kind of moisture around it doesn't present much of a problem."
At the Weyburn Inland Terminal, agronomist Rob Makowsky says since farmers have finalized their seeding plans, fertilizer sales have been good - better than last year at this time. He agrees with Giroux that the moisture factor is mainly responsible for the increase.
Pre-emergent herbicides have been selling well, said Makowsky, along with some treated mustard and canola seed.
"The flea beetle population we experienced last year was high, and after a mild winter with snow cover, the forecast for the flea beetle is high again. Farmers are looking for a little extra insurance as those crops emerge," he said.
Most farmers are preparing for the possibility of wheat midge in their budgets, Makowsky added.
Fillmore Agro owner Stuart Kosior said farmers are buying their inputs as needed, when in previous years, more money was spent ahead of time.
"It puts more pressure on our demands, but we'll be able to keep up," Kosior said.
Fertilizer sales are strong, while chemical sales have been a bit slow.
"As soon as the weather gets nicer, we expect they'll pick up," he said.
Kosior said most farmers are taking the wait-and-see approach this year when it comes to insecticides - particularly with flea beetle controls on canola.
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