Farmers across the province are facing harvest delays due to widespread precipitation over the past week, according to the latest provincial crop report. While the rains have improved soil moisture levels, they have also slowed the harvest of key crops such as spring wheat, barley, and canola. The harvest of pulse crops, however, is nearing completion. Unfortunately, the wet weather has affected the quality of unharvested cereal crops, with many producers now expecting lower quality yields.
Despite the weather setbacks, harvest progress remains ahead of the long-term averages for this time of year across all regions. Provincial harvest progress for major crops has reached 74%, an 11% increase from last week. The weekly progress for individual crops includes 8% for spring wheat, 8% for barley, 13% for oats, 18% for canola, and 1% for dry peas. The North West and Peace Regions reported the most significant progress, while the South, Central, and North East regions experienced slower gains.
However, crop quality is expected to be lower than average this season. The provincial crop quality updates indicate that a smaller proportion of the harvested crop will be graded as the highest quality. For example, only 51% of the hard red spring wheat is estimated to be graded as 1 C.W., compared to the five-year average of 55%. Durum wheat, barley, oats, canola, and dry peas are also expected to have lower proportions of top-grade crops compared to historical averages.
In terms of yields, most dryland crops have seen slight declines in estimates since the last report, with the exception of oats. The provincial yield estimates in bushels per acre have dropped by 0.3 for spring wheat, 2.1 for barley, 0.9 for canola, and 1.5 for dry peas, while oats saw a modest increase of 0.5 bushels per acre. As a result, the overall provincial yield index for major crops is now 2.9% below the five-year average and 7.4% below the ten-year average.
Farmers continue to battle against the elements, with hopes of better weather ahead to complete the harvest and salvage crop quality where possible.
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