Harvest is underway in Saskatchewan, but the rain that has been falling since June is hampering efforts, according to Saskatchewan Agriculture’s weekly crop report.
Thirty-five per cent of winter wheat, 25 per cent of fall rye, four per cent of peas and one per cent of lentils has been combined so far with the southeast corner of the province leading the way.
“(The southeast corner has) had a break in weather the last couple of weeks where they haven’t received as much rain. Of course, there’s always exceptions with these pop-up thunderstorms, but that area in particular was very wet earlier on in July,” said Daphne Cruise, crop management specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture in Moose Jaw.
Parts of the province this week did see what is becoming a normal story this year with rain falling causing crop damage due to lodging and flooding. The Rhein area received the most at 120 millimetres.
“There seems to be clouds hanging over certain areas of the province particularly in the southwest and west central areas around Leader, Kyle, Rosetown, Kindersley, even Swift Current,” Cruise said.
The Kyle area has received 537 mm of rain since April 1, making it the wettest area in the province.
“We don’t need any kind of rain especially in those kinds of amounts because it’s just going to make getting into fields that much longer and getting the crop off a little bit more difficult,” Cruise said.
There has been some drier areas in the province though this summer and rain came just in the knick of time for them. In the northwest region, producers have received rain in the last few weeks that helped the crop fill out.
“There are some beautiful crops out there. Some of our crop reporters have indicated on some of the lighter (soil zones) and some of the areas that have missed some of those big rain showers, they’re expecting to pull off some very good yields and quality,” Cruise said.
Source : Leaderpost