HARVEST IS A WRAP
Almost 100 per cent of the crop is in the bin.
Harvest is virtually complete in the province as 97 per cent of the crop is now in the bin, up from 91 per cent last week, according to Saskatchewan Agriculture’s weekly crop report.
The five year (2010-14) average for this time of year is 98 per cent combined. Last year at this time, 95 per cent of the crop had been harvested, in line with the 10-year average, the report said Thursday.
“Just a few crops are left out there,’’ such as flax, canary seed and oats, said Shannon Friesen, cropping management specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture in Moose Jaw. “They’re slow-to-dry-down crops.’’
Mild and relatively dry weather allowed most producers to complete harvest, although other producers will need another week or more to finish. The southeast is furthest advanced, having 99 per cent of the crop combined. The southwestern, east-central and northeastern regions have 98 per cent of the crop combined, while the northwest has 97 per cent and the west-central region has 93 per cent.
Very little rainfall was received this past week, although some areas around Prince Albert reported receiving 10 mm. “We managed to catch up after all that rain,’’ Friesen said. “Certainly, it’s looking a lot better than back in July when we all thought, if the rain doesn’t come, we’re going to be in a lot more trouble. But things seemed to work out OK.’’
In fact, Friesen expects crop production to be close to the average this year. “Twenty-eight, 29 million tonnes, somewhere around there,’’ she said. While that’s down from the 2013 record harvest of 38,4 million tonnes and last year’s harvest of more than 30 million tonnes, “it’s a lot better than we were expecting,’’ she added,
Across the province, topsoil moisture conditions on cropland are rated as six per cent surplus, 88 per cent adequate and six per cent short. Hay land and pasture topsoil moisture conditions are rated as two per cent surplus, 85 per cent adequate, 12 per cent short and one per cent very short.
The final crop report of the season will be issued next Thursday. “Next week, we’ll have the quality (grading) for all crops released, plus comparisons to the last 10 years,” Friesen said.
Meanwhile, farmers are busy finishing harvest and doing fall work. “We’ve been very lucky to have a nice, extended fall this year, so a lot of fall work will actually get done this year,” she said.