The recent snowfall in the province was a welcome sight to many farmers in West Central Saskatchewan. Poor moisture levels across the province have left many farmers wondering what will happen if those levels don't improve drastically. Logan Houff, a local farmer in the Eston area, is one of many left wondering what the spring will look like if this winter doesn't produce some much needed precipitation. 

"There's a few guys that are starting to get a little more realistic with the expectation that maybe they're not going to seed a crop next year. Maybe they're not going to because if we don't get some late snow in February, March, April that doesn't have moisture in it, the early snows that we get typically don't have much moisture in it. It's just too cold." 

Houff continued to say, "Last year we had record amount of snowfall here in this area and not one single slough."

The Central West region isn't the only area of Saskatchewan to be affected by extreme drought this year. Much of the southern half of the province saw record heat and average rainfall totals in 2021. A concerning trend in recent years, leaving many crops producing well below average yields. 

"I figured it out to be about 80% less than what we expected. It was wind stress, heat stress and then drought stress and then that just pushed it past its limits where it was pretty well done, and there was not much for salvageability."

The recent snowfall earlier in the month was hopefully the beginning of a wet winter after a 2021, many farmers like Houff would like to forget.