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First signs of harvest in the northeast

Aug 16, 2012 | 2:50 PM

With haying nearly complete in Saskatchewan, farmers are now turning their attention to 2012 crop.

According to Saskatchewan Agriculture, four per cent of the provincial crop has been combined, while seven per cent is ready to be combined. That compares to the five year average of three per combined and and six per cent swathed.

The combines are just starting to hit the fields in the northeast with less than one per cent combined.
Winter wheat, fall rye and peas are the first crops starting to come off the fields, said crop specialist Grant McLean, but the canola is at least another week away.

“They’re just starting swathing and our reporters indicate one per cent have been swathed.”
With harvest season ramping up, McLean says most producers are wishing for warm dry weather to finish crops off and allow them to bring heavy equipment onto their fields.

“I think there are some late seeded crops that would like to see some more rain, but certainly not in your part of the world,” he said.

Wet conditions have plagued farmers in recent years and McLean explains that moisture levels could hamper harvesting in the northeast once again.

The most saturated fields in the northeast are around Tisdale, which has received more than 22 inches of rain since April.1, McLean said.

“In fact, in some cases, their concerned things are too wet and may be tough to get into, unless things dry up.”

Across the province, nearly three quarters of producers say they have enough moisture with another nine per cent saying they have too much.

However, it is the opposite problem in the southwestern crop region, where fields have become partched.

“They’re considered very short now and in many cases their crops were really suffering because of the lack of water,” said McLean.

bbosker@panow.com

Twitter: @brentbosker