Less than half of the Saskatchewan crop is in the bin as more precipitation this past week further limited harvest progress.
The latest weekly crop report on Thursday pegged the overall provincial harvest at 47% complete as of Monday, up just 8 points on the week and far behind the five- and 10-year averages of 75% done. In fact, this year’s harvest is the slowest in the province going back until at least 2010. An additional 34% of the 2019 crop was swathed or ready to straight cut as of Monday.
Although producers were able to make some headway in the fields in the days before, an early winter storm this past weekend has essentially now stalled the harvest. Most areas of the province received significant precipitation, including up to 103 mm in the Admiral area and 60 mm in the Moose Jaw area.
Much of the crop harvested so far is tough and is being put into grain dryers and aeration bins, the report said, adding farmers will still need “several weeks” of warm and dry weather to get the crop off.
The majority of crop damage this past week was due to hail, strong winds, lodging, localized flooding and frost. “There continues to be many reports of crops sprouting, bleaching and staining and downgrading is expected. Geese and wildlife are also feeding on swathed crops and causing damage.”
Harvest remains the most advanced in the southwest region, where 68% of the crop was combined as of Monday. The northeast region had 50% combined and the southeast region 46%. The west-central region had 46% combined, the northwest region 34% and the east-central region 33%.
An estimated 94% of the field peas, 91% of the lentils, 68% of the barley, 58% of the mustard, 57% of the durum, 46% of the canary seed, 44% of the spring wheat, 37% of the chickpeas and 24% of the canola was binned as of Monday. An additional 62% of the canola and 17% f the mustard was swathed or ready to straight-cut.
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