Harvest operations across Saskatchewan are nearly complete, with producers making strong progress on remaining acres before weekend rain and snow brought activity to a halt in many areas.
Thursday’s crop report pegged the provincewide harvest at 98% complete as of Monday, up 5 points from a week earlier and just slightly behind 99% last year. The west-central and northeast regions are leading at 99% finished, followed closely by the southeast and northwest at 98%, while the southwest and east-central regions are at 97%.
Only a small number of fields remain unharvested, mainly those seeded to oilseeds, chickpeas and canary seed, the report said Canola is now 98% off, mustard 95%, flax 87%, soybeans 83%, canary seed 92%, and chickpeas 88%. All other major cereals and pulses have been fully harvested.
Moisture returned to many parts of the province over the past weekend, improving soil conditions. The heaviest precipitation was recorded around Strasbourg with 52 millimetres (mm), followed by Archerwill with 50 mm and Arborfield with 43 mm. While the rainfall halted harvest temporarily, it was welcomed by producers who have finished combining, as it helped recharge topsoil moisture ahead of freeze-up.