Many crops in the Weyburn area are flourishing under the warm weather in the last few weeks, but now the crops are in need for another shot of rain.

In the Trossachs area west of Weyburn, producer Norm Flaten said the early-seeded crops are particularly looking good right now, but some of the crops seeded later are in need of moisture.

The early-seeded crops include peas, lentils, canola, spring wheat, durum and oats, said Flaten.

"We'll have reasonable production this fall, and some producers will have excellent production," he said, adding in his area there were a lot more acres put into summerfallow than in a normal year, mostly due to the wet seeding conditions this spring.

Some producers have been put in late-seeded crops, and harvest of those crops will depend on the date of the first killing frost this fall.

"On the other hand, if we have a heavy frost in the near future, say by the middle of August, some of the late-seeded crops will be damaged so severely it might not get harvested," he said.

The late-seeded varieties have included primarily oats and barley, although some, like himself, are taking a risk and seeded spring wheat. These crops, if seeded after June 20, will not be covered by crop insurance, although should still have hail coverage.

Asked about where crops are at for development, Flaten replied, "Generally, the crops are behind, and some are very behind. The heat helps with the maturity, but it there's a shortage of moisture it can reduce the yield potential."

He added his area has missed out on some of the recent showers, so topsoil moisture is a little lacking in some fields, but subsoil moisture has remained good.

Grasshoppers are becoming more and more numerous, and some people have been spraying to control them, which Tribune producer David Pattyson agreed is also the case in his area south of Weyburn.

The other aspect true of both areas, is the excellent crop of hay many farmers have been putting up in the last couple of weeks.

"Some people are putting up two years' worth of hay," said Flaten, adding the hay is so good some roadsides and sloughs may not have their hay harvested this year.

"There are some haying operations going still, and I think some guys are switching over to sloughs and lower land stands. This has been one of the best haying seasons we've had in many years," added Pattyson.

Talking of the crops in the Tribune area generally, he said, "They're still looking fairly good, however this area could use a little bit of moisture, especially for some of the late-seeded crops."