According to Saskatchewan Agriculture’s weekly Crop Report, producers took advantage of the warm and dry weather to make considerable harvest progress before light showers later in the week put field work on hold,
Twenty-seven per cent of the crop is now in the bin, well ahead of the five-year (2013-2017) average of 13 per cent for this time of year. Seventeen per cent of the crop is now swathed or ready to straight-cut. Yields vary across the province, depending on the amount of moisture received over the growing season.
Harvest is most advanced in the southwestern region, where 46 per cent of the crop is now combined. The southeastern region has 42 per cent combined, the west-central region 23 per cent and the east-central region 16 per cent. Ten per cent of the crop is in the bin in the northeast and five per cent in the northwest.
There were some light showers throughout the province this week, with the highest rainfall (29mm) being reported in the Ponteix area. Topsoil moisture conditions remain unchanged, despite the limited extra moisture. Across the province, topsoil moisture conditions on cropland are rated as 25 per cent adequate, 46 per cent short and 29 per cent very short. Hay land and pasture topsoil moisture is rated as 21 per cent adequate, 38 per cent short and 41 per cent very short. Many southern and central areas have not received a significant rainfall in close to two months and crops continue to rapidly dry down.
The majority of crop damage this past week was due to lack of moisture and strong wind. There continue to be reports of stubble and grass fires even though light showers helped to reduce fire risk in some areas. Concerns remain of feed shortages occurring in drier areas.
A complete, printable version of the Crop Report is available online at http://www.saskatchewan.ca/crop-report.
