Warm and dry weather has allowed farmers in Saskatchewan to get well ahead of the five-year average for harvesting their crops.
Saskatchewan Agriculture reported Thursday that 62 per cent of the crop is now in the bin. That compares to the five-year average of 48 per cent for this time of year.
The crop report also said 27 per cent of the crop is swathed or ready to straight-cut.
Sara Tetland, a crops extension specialized with Sask Ag, said this year’s harvest is going much better compared to last year.
“We got a lot of rain starting (at) the end of August and into September. And then we got a snowstorm that really delayed harvest last year,” Tetland said.
“So far this year it has been going quite well. It’s been warm, crops (are) around normal development stages and farmers have been able to make a lot of really good harvests.”
She added that yields are projected to be about average.
Harvest is furthest advanced in the southwest region, with 90 per cent of the crop in the bin. The southeast has 77 per cent combined, the west-central 61 per cent, the east-central 51 per cent, the northeast 33 per cent and the northwest 18 per cent.
Sask Ag said 97 per cent of lentils, 94 per cent of field peas, 87 per cent of mustard, 72 per cent of barley, 86 per cent of durum, 69 per cent of chickpeas, 55 per cent of spring wheat, 42 per cent of canola and 28 per cent of flax are combined.
An additional 47 per cent of canola is swathed or ready to straight-cut, according to the crop report.
Frost, wind and dry conditions caused the majority of crop damage in the past week.
Tetland said frost won’t have much impact on crops that are ready to harvest.
“But, there will be some damage in later seeded crops or later maturing crops where they have a little bit more moisture and that frost and cool temperatures can affect the seed development,” she said.
“It’s been about a week since that heavy frost, and I think we’ll just start to see … the amount of damage that has caused.”
Very little rainfall was reported in the grainbelt during the reporting period (Sept. 8-14) and Sask Ag said that, along with strong winds, is contributing to the deterioration of topsoil conditions.
Cropland topsoil moisture is rated 30 per cent adequate, 41 per cent short and 29 per cent very short.
Hay and pasture land topsoil moisture are rated 26 per cent adequate, 33 per cent short and 41 per cent very short.
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