Warm and relatively dry weather this past week has allowed producers to make major gains in the 2015 harvest, with 29 per cent of the crop combined and another 30 per cent swathed or ready to straight-cut, according to Saskatchewan Agriculture’s weekly crop report.
The five-year (2010-2014) average for this time of year is 14 per cent combined and 26 per cent swathed or ready to straight-cut. Last year at this time, only seven per cent of the crop had been combined, with another 28 per cent swathed or ready to straight-combine.
“Things are moving quickly,’’ said Shannon Friesen, cropping management specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture in Moose Jaw. “We’re well ahead of where we’ve been (in terms of harvest completion at this time of year) for many, many years.’’
Producers in the southwest are furthest advanced, having 51 per cent of the crop combined, while producers in the southeast are close behind with 45 per cent of the crop combined. In the west-central region, 22 per cent of the crop is combined, with 13 per cent combined in the northwest, 11 per cent in the east-central region and 10 per cent in the northeast.
Hail and wind have damaged some crops and there are reports of bleaching, staining or sprouting of cereal and pulse crops in some areas. “If it rains this weekend, then quality is going to change again. Not only does it delay (the harvest), it also causes other headaches,’’ Friesen said.
Crop reporters are indicating that yields and grades are average overall. “We’ve heard reports that many of the crops are yielding a lot better than expected,’’ Friesen said.
“Of course, there are always those crops may have looked good, but are yielding and grading poor. You can have one great-looking crop and right next door it’s like a disaster, in some cases.”
Source : LeaderPost