The Saskatchewan harvest accelerated this past week but remains behind the previous year and well back of average.
Thursday's weekly crop report showed the provincewide harvest at 11% complete as of Monday. That compares to 4% a week earlier, and the five- and 10-year averages of 25% and 21%.
Last year at this time, 12% of the crop was in the bin.
Harvest progress varied widely by region. The Southwest was furthest along at 27% complete, followed by the Southeast at 11% and West-central region at 8%. East-central Saskatchewan was 5% harvested, while the Northeast and Northwest were each just 1% complete.
Warm daytime temperatures and cooler evenings helped crops mature across much of the province, while generally dry conditions supported fieldwork. However, rainfall, strong winds and periods of high humidity slowed operations in some areas. Later-seeded crops are now beginning to turn, with harvesting expected to expand soon, the report added..
Producers continued to focus on winter cereals, pulses and other early seeded crops. Fall rye harvest was 69% complete and winter wheat 60%. Among pulses, lentils were 48% harvested and field peas 44%.
Spring cereal harvest was further behind, with barley at 16% done, oats 7%, durum 5%, canary seed 2% and spring wheat just 1%.
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