Extreme heat continues to damage Sask. crops

REGINA -

Saskatchewan crops are “extremely stressed” due to a lack of rain and extreme heat throughout the province, according to this week’s crop report.

Roughly half of fall cereals, spring cereals, oilseeds and pulse crops are growing normally, and producers have been using underdeveloped crops as greenfeed.

The Redvers area received 77 millimetres of rainfall this week.

“Any rain received now will not help increase crop yield but it will help maintain yields through the heat,” the province said in the weekly crop report.

Cropland and topsoil moisture is rated as eight per cent adequate, 39 per cent short and 53 per cent very short.

Localized hail, winds, dry conditions, heat and grasshoppers caused the most damage to crops this week.

To assist farmers, Saskatchewan Crop Insurance has doubled the low yield appraisal threshold. The Government also increased the maximum funding a livestock producer can receive from the Farm and Ranch Water Infrastructure Program (FRWIP). Between April 1, 2021 and Oct. 31, 2021, the maximum rebate will be tripled to $150,000.