Saskatchewan Harvest Underway

REGINA - Aug 13/20 - SNS -- This year's harvest is now underway in western Canada, with modest progress reported for peas and lentils as warm weather continued to help crops mature.

Saskatchewan Agriculture cautions that some growers are reporting "premature ripening and damage from high heat."

While initial yields are excellent, there is a concern yields in Saskatchewan will trend lower because of the impact of heat on flowering and pod development. Growers are reporting below average hay yields, which could be a sign of the yield potential of pulses in some parts of the province.

Overall, Saskatchewan's harvest is 1% complete, with 52% of the fall rye crop now in the bin, compared to 19% complete for winter wheat, 6% for field peas and 3% for lentils. Available data suggests farmers have harvested around 162,000 metric tons (MT) of new crop peas and 65,000 MT of lentils.

Saskatchewan Agriculture says the harvest is most advanced in the south and west-central regions, where 2% of all fields in the southwest is combined and 1% of the crop in the southeast and west-central is combined. Producers in the central and northern regions have less than 1% of the crop combined, but many expect to start in the coming weeks.

Much of the province received small amounts of rain this week, with parts of the northern, west-central and southeast regions receiving half an inch to an inch. The majority of crop damage this week was due to wind, dry conditions, heat, wildlife and grasshoppers. There were also isolated reports of hail.

Farmers are busy wrapping up haying and baling, getting ready for harvest, desiccating and swathing crops and starting to combine in some areas.