Saskatchewan farmers have finished their 2017 harvest

Oct 27, 2017

Farmers had favourable fall weather during harvest

By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com

Farmers in Saskatchewan are shutting off their combines for the year, according to Saskatchewan Agriculture’s final crop report of 2017.

99 per cent of crops have been harvested as of Oct. 23. That number is up from 82 per cent recorded at this time last year.

Only some flax, soybeans and sunflowers remain in the fields.

And crop yields appear to be on par with the province’s 10-year average.

“Average provincial yields at this time are reported as 43 bushels per acre for hard red spring wheat, 34 bushels per acre for canola, 18 bushels per acre for soybeans, 63 bushels per acre for barley, 746 lbs per acre for mustard and 1,369 lbs per acre for lentils,” the Crop Report said.

A few factors came together to enable farmers to have a good crop year.

“Harvest weather was favourable for much of the fall, allowing producers to pull off well-above average crop quality,” the report said. “There were also limited reports of diseases, such as fusarium head blight, impacting crop production this year. The majority of crops are being reported as falling within the top two quality grades.”

But there hasn’t been enough rain in the past few weeks, according to the crop report.

And if rain doesn’t fall soon, there could be problems next spring, according to Saskatchewan Agriculture.

“The majority of producers have indicated that the subsoil is very dry and that seeding conditions next spring will be impacted if moisture is not received,” the report said.

Video: Spring weed control in winter wheat with Broadway® Star (pyroxsulam + florasulam)

#CortevaTalks brings you a short update with Cereal Herbicides Category Manager, Alister McRobbie, on how to get the most out of Broadway® Star.

Significant populations of grassweeds, including ryegrass and brome, can threaten winter wheat yields. Spring applications of a contact graminicide, such as Broadway Star from Corteva Agriscience, can clear problem weeds, allowing crops to grow away in the spring.

Broadway Star (pyroxsulam + florasulam) controls ryegrass, sterile brome, wild oats and a range of broad-leaved weeds such as cleavers. It can be applied to winter wheat up until GS32, but the earlier the application is made, the smaller the weed, and the greater the benefit to the crop. Weeds should be actively growing. A good rule of thumb is that if your grass needs cutting, conditions are right to apply Broadway Star.