Saskatchewan Harvest Closes in on Completion

The Saskatchewan harvest is closing in on completion after a return to warm, dry weather allowed fieldwork to pick up after earlier rain delays. 

Thursday’s crop report pegged the provincial harvest at 91% complete as of Monday, up 12 points on the week after just a 5-point gain the previous week. That is ahead of the five- and 10-year averages of 83% and 79% complete, and only 4 points behind last year. 

Harvest is essentially complete in the southwest region, with a few acres of unharvested crops in the region. The southeast is in the homestretch, with 94% of the crop off. Harvest was 90% complete in the west-central region, with the east-central close behind at 88% done. The northwest and northeast have the most crops remaining in the field, at 85% and 81% harvested, respectively. 

All pea and lentil crops are off, while 99% of all durum crops are in the bin. Most of the other spring-seeded cereal crops have been harvested, with barley at 98% complete, spring wheat at 96%, oats at 94%, and canary seed at 92%. Harvest is winding down for mustard and chickpea crops as 98% and 95% of those crops had been combined as of Monday. The canola harvest was 82% complete, with flax at 68% and soybeans at 56%. 

Some areas in the northern regions did experience rain delays this past week. The Glaslyn area received the most rainfall last week at 31 mm, followed closely by the Meota and North Battleford areas which received 26 mm and 25 mm, respectively.  Cropland topsoil moisture was rated 60% adequate, 34% short and 6% very short as of Monday, compared to 64% adequate, 32% short and 4% very short a week earlier. 

Crop yields in Saskatchewan vary between and within the six reporting regions, something the report said was largely due to variable rainfall and weather conditions during the growing season.  

The latest provincial estimates put this year’s average spring wheat and durum yields at 46 bu and 32 bu/acre, both down from Statistics Canada’s September crop production report, which pegged the average Saskatchewan spring wheat yield at 46.5 bu and durum at 35.3 bu/acre. 

The province put the average barley yield at 62 bu/acre, slightly above the StatsCan estimate of 61 bu, while the average oat yield, at 75 bu/acre, is 11 bu below StatsCan. The province’s canola yield of 33 bu is also below the StatsCan projection of 37.7 bu. The province’s average pea yield of 35 bu/acre is 2.2 bu below StatsCan, while its average lentil yield is 114 lbs below at 1,220 lbs/acre. 

Hard red spring wheat quality in Saskatchewan also differs between regions due to factors such as growing season temperatures and moisture. This year, the average grades of Hard Red Spring Wheat in Saskatchewan are 61% 1CW, 29% 2CW, 8% 3CW, and 2% CW Feed. This year's grades are slightly better than the five-year average grades, and above the 10-year average. 

Southeast: 

Producers in the southeast made good harvest progress and are wrapping up harvest due to dry conditions this past week. Harvest is now 94 per cent complete in the southeast, which is ahead of the 83 per cent five-year average and 84 per cent 10-year average. 

Very little rain fell in the southeast during this reporting period and conditions have been fairly dry. Cropland topsoil moisture is rated as 66 per cent adequate, 33 per cent short and 1 per cent very short.  

Producers are reporting light kernel weight for some crops which is mainly due to the heat in July and August, and yields are overall lower than they expected. Estimated yields for spring-seeded cereal crops are 50 bushels per acre for spring wheat, 38 bushels per acre for durum and 64 bushels per acre for barley. Canola yields are estimated to be 32 bushels per acre in the region, which is slightly lower than the provincial average. For pulse crops, field pea yields are reported to be 34 bushels per acre and lentils are 1220 pounds per acre. Yields vary within the southeast largely based on rainfall, temperature and pest activity during the growing season. 

Quality of hard red spring wheat in the southeast is lower than the provincial average for this year. Forty-seven per cent is 1CW grade, 45 per cent is 2CW, seven per cent is 3CW and one per cent is CW feed grade.