Saving grace for some crops may be last October’s rainfall
So far harvest isn’t going bad for Clinton Monchuk. The Laniganarea farmer started combining yellow peas earlier than usual this year but the yields aren’t as bad as he was expecting.
“The yield is a little bit below average but given the fact that we didn’t have a lot of rain, we’re still happy with the fact that it’s OK,” he said.
During July, Monchuk estimates his farm received only one-third to half of the normal rainfall amount, but a wet harvest last year left moisture in the ground for this year’s crop.
“We had a lot of moisture last October. So when that snowfall came that wrecked everybody’s fall in the cities, it was actually a blessing for us, because it provided some moisture that sunk down,” he said.
The provincial crop report released Thursday said seven per cent of the provincial crop has been harvested, which is ahead of the five-year average of four per cent.
Harvest is ahead this year due to a dry July which led to crops maturing faster. Harvest is the most advanced in the southwest at 17 per cent.
“A lot of those of crops have rapidly dried down, they’ve advanced very quickly. So producers were able to actually be out in the field much earlier than they normally would be,” said Shannon Friesen, acting crop management specialist with the Ministry of Agriculture in Moose Jaw.
In July, there was worry about yields, but so far reports coming into the Ministry of Agriculture say yields aren’t as bad as expected.
“We’ve heard anywhere from well below average to even slightly above average, all depending where you are and if you are lucky enough to get rain,” Friesen said.
Rain throughout the week helped improve soil moisture conditions, with amounts ranging from trace to 48 millimetres near Turtleford. However, more moisture is still needed throughout the fall and winter for next year’s crops.
At Megz Reynolds’ farm near Kyle, harvest was stopped for two days this week after rain came through the area. “We’re getting the rain we wanted a month ago. Pretty much as soon as we started desiccating lentils it started raining every couple of days,” she said.
Reynolds was back out in the fields Thursday and expects to be done harvesting lentils by Friday.
With harvest well underway, the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure is reminding motorists to watch out for farm machinery on roads and for farmers to take caution and plan routes ahead when moving equipment.