Warm, dry weather has helped Saskatchewan farmers make significant headway on this year’s harvest, the province says in its latest weekly crop report.
Producers have combined 65 per cent of the crop, up from 45 per cent last week. That’s well ahead of the five-year average of 40 per cent for this time of year. Twenty-two per cent of the crop is swathed or ready to straight-cut.
Farmers in southwestern Saskatchewan have made the most progress, with 86 per cent of the crop combined. Seventy-six per cent of the crop has been combined in the province’s southeast.
Producers in the west-central and east-central regions have harvested 66 per cent and 57 per cent of the crop, respectively.
The northeastern region has 37 per cent of the crop combined, while the northwestern region has harvested 35 per cent.
Some producers have wrapped up the harvest and many more expect to be finished in the coming weeks, according to the report.
Ninety-eight per cent of lentils, 95 per cent of field peas, 82 per cent of mustard, 81 per cent of durum, 71 per cent of barley, 63 per cent of spring wheat, 50 per cent of canola and 20 per cent of flax have now been combined. Thirty-nine per cent of canola is swathed or ready to straight-cut.
Most of the province received no rainfall last week, although the Unity and Neilburg areas both reported receiving five millimetres.
With the dry field conditions, many producers have indicated that winter cereals may not be seeded this fall, the report notes.
Lack of moisture continues to cause crop damage, while strong winds have blown swaths around and shelled-out standing crops. There are also many reports of combine and grass fires due to the extremely dry conditions. Some areas in the north reported frost and producers are assessing damage.
SaskPower has received nine reports of farm machinery coming in contact with power lines since Sept. 1, bringing the total since Aug. 1 to 33.
