They may be behind, but the farmers are making the best of their late start.
Local farmers just started seeding their land within the last two weeks.
The high moisture level in the soil this year has been a major contributor to why farmers have had a late start.
One of the main areas affected by the moisture is the Rural Municipality (RM) of Three Lakes.
Many areas are still very wet and some farmers are dealing with water running through their fields that has never been there before.
"In general, I guess lots of farmers are having difficulties getting to some fields due to the field access roads are covered with water, that type of thing," said Allan Baumann, RM of Three Lakes reeve.
"The RM is working to the best of our workforce and abilities to try to get them patched up so farmers can get to their fields," Baumann added.
Farmers have started to seed their land in that RM, however, dodging the water that still lays or runs in some fields.
"We're behind from last year, we're behind from most years," said Baumann.
"Some people are a third (complete)... that's about where I am right now too."
The RM of Three Lakes is not the only area that is behind this spring. Crop Specialist Shannon Urbaniak explained the entire province is behind.
Usually by this time of year, provincially 44 per cent of fields have been seeded. This year, 23 per cent have been seeded provincially and only 11 per cent in the east central area.
"We are a quarter done while usually we are about half done at this time," said Urbaniak.
"I think that you'll find that next week's crop report will have (caught up a lot) because we'll have such nice days ahead here."
Even though they are behind, the farmers are trying to make the best of it, working long hours to try to catch up.
"Certain fields, there are still wet areas in them, and there are still some fields that are pretty wet," said Urbaniak.
"I think that the drying winds we are having are helping things along. People are going full force right now."
The weather has been a huge factor in drying up the land and letting farmers get to work.
"Right now, it's not that bad... It's actually better than I expected going into spring, the conditions are better than I expected," said Baumann.
"It's drying up every day as the sun shines and the wind blows... it's making conditions better."
The RM of Three Lakes has more problems than just the fields, though. It has been declared a disaster area due to all the flooding issues.
"Hopefully it will make us eligible for Provincial Disaster Assistance funding," said Baumann.
The RM has been dealing with road closures due to flood issues.
"Right now we still have Grid 773 that is flooded since February that needs to be rebuilt," said Baumann.
"The Prairie Grains road, otherwise known as the Mosely Grid... that road was cut open mid-April and was just closed back up on May 13."
They had three grids north and south all cut open to let the water flow through.
"The Provincial Disaster Assistance (Program) will help us cover some of those costs associated with installing more culverts in these roads and repairing the soft spots," said Baumann.
In the RM of Lakeside, which surrounds the Quill Lakes, farmers have been going hard since May 14-15.
"Lots of guys have got quite a bit in," said Reeve Arnold Boyko.
Other farmers, he noted, are still preparing their land, trying to repair the ruts made during last year's very wet harvest season.
It really depends on the conditions the fields were in last year, Boyko believes. Farmers south of Quill Lake got more crop in last year than those in other parts of the RM, and those crops were able to absorb some of the moisture.
The water in the fields has gone down remarkably in the last two weeks, he noted, which has allowed many farmers to get rolling.
"The moisture conditions are excellent," Boyko said. "That's one consolation."
However, the level of the Quill Lakes is continuing to rise as water flows off the land and into those basins.
According to a stake Boyko drove into the ground near Big Quill Lake, it had risen seven inches in nearly two weeks.
"We have farmers who are going to lose some land because the lake is going up," he noted.
Pastures in the RM belonging to the Wimmer and Lampard grazing associations are also unusable this year, as they are flooded.
"One is completely swamped," Boyko said, and the ground of the other is so wet, any animals grazing there would likely get foot-rot.
The Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP) has declared the RM of Lakeside and the Village of Quill Lake are eligible for disaster assistance because of spring flooding.
There are six major creeks that run through the RM of Lakeside, Boyko noted, and all "were running full bore this year," he said.
"This year was a little worse than we had in 2007," he said.
As a result, they had a good number of culverts washed out, and they had to close off two bridges because of washouts.
The amount of work they have done so far, getting roads back into shape and replacing culverts has run to at least $50,000, Boyko estimated. And that's conservative, he added.
"We've hauled 10,000 yards of fill already," he said, to repair roads.
They hope PDAP can reimburse them for some of those costs. However, the program won't cover the expenses incurred by councillors who were out watching water all spring. Some councillors put over 1,000 kilometres on their vehicles as they checked roads and creek levels.
Changes to the PDAP program should help, though, Boyko believes. Their deductible in 2007 was $46,000 - one per cent of their assessment roll. Now it's about $4,600, which is a lot easier to bear.
The RM of LeRoy has also been declared an area eligible for assistance from PDAP.
Reeve Jerry McGrath was out in the field, so Joan Fedak, the RM administrator, explained the situation in that RM this spring.
The situation has included many washed out and washed over roads as a result of excess runoff. Culverts, for the most part, stayed in the road, but roads collapsed around them, Fedak indicated.
"We have approximately 100 sites, and 80 of those will meet the criteria for assistance under PDAP," she said.
Three major creeks - Lanigan, Romance and Jansen Lake - run through the RM of LeRoy, which means a lot of water was moving through the area this spring.
However, at this point, the RM is looking in good shape. Only three roads remain closed, and repairs to those roads are nearing completion.
"We're hauling clay to those sites and will be starting to gravel," she said.
Because of the declaration by PDAP, private landowners can also apply for assistance from the program, to cover damage that isn't insurable.
Some in the RM of LeRoy have suffered damage to basements, driveways, and farmland, Fedak noted, as well as to bins or bales on farm land.
Many RMs in the province are having issues with soft spots or frost boils in their roads, Fedak added. And repairs to those are not covered by PDAP.
The Journal attempted to contact other farmers in the area, but those attempts were unsuccessful, as they were out in the field, which is an indication in itself of how things are going this spring.
