Rain Delays Saskatchewan Harvest Progress

Saskatchewan Agriculture reports harvest progress was slowed over last week by scattered rain showers and thunderstorms. Saskatchewan Agriculture released its crop report yesterday for the period from August 12th to 18th.

Tyce Masich, a Crops Extension Specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture, says, while more producers started harvest this past week, quite a bit of rainfall in the central and northern parts of the province slowed progress.

Quote-Tyce Masich-Saskatchewan Agriculture:

Last week it was fairly dry in the southwest and southeast parts of the province but anywhere north of that, so any of the central or northern regions got anywhere from just scattered rain showers to pretty significant rainfall levels, anywhere from 10 millimeters all the way up to 70 or 80 millimeters depending on were you are in those areas.

That certainly slowed harvest progress that was taking place in those areas but in all honesty a lot of producers in those areas didn't start harvest yet so the it just delayed them from starting to take crops off in those areas.Most of the harvest is taking place in the southwest and southeast regions of the province.In both of those regions less than 10 percent of crops have been taken off so harvest is really still getting going in  those regions but that's where most of the harvest has taken place so far.

Of the crops that are being taken off it's mainly winter cereal crops and then spring wheat, lentils, peas, those kinds of crops as well.About half of the winter wheat crops have been taken off as well.Producers are kind of reaching the halfway point for winter cereals but still harvest has yet to really kick off in most regions.

I will say there has been some producers in all six regions of the province at least starting to take off the first few acres so I think it's only a matter of days before we see harvest really taking off in the province.

Masich notes the forecast for most of the province over the next week calls for warm and dry conditions which will allows crops to rapidly develop and mature and allow the harvest to move forward.