By Angela Brown

Most crop yields in northwest down, but quality good overall

Oct 15, 2021 | 3:45 PM

NORTH BATTLEFORD, Sask. — Similar to other parts of the province, most farmers in the Battlefords and northwest region of the province are being challenged with lower crop yields this harvest.

Ministry of Agriculture Crops Extension Specialist Matthew Struthers said the drought during this year’s growing season impacted many producers.

“If you look at the northwest and the Battlefords area, they also fell below even what the provincial average saw, or landed on par with it,” he said.

On the positive side, Struthers said many crops still finished with a good quality, despite the difficulties.

“A lot of producers in that region saw yields far lower than they had hoped for. But the silver lining is that crop quality did hold out, and the majority of crops fell between the first two top grades,” he said.

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Many crops dropped below the 10-year average for yields for the region as a result of this year’s stresses on agriculture.

“[It] isn’t surprising for the year we had,” Struthers said. “They got hammered by hail, premature ripening, strong winds, heat blasting and drought.”

Grasshoppers also had an impact.

Crop yields varied throughout the province, depending on the amount of moisture received throughout the season.

When comparing numbers, the 10-year average for hard red spring wheat is 41 bushel per acre, while the northwest region yielded 30 bushel this year, a decrease of 11.

For canola, the provincial average for this year was 21 bushel per acre, while the 10-year-average is 34. The northwest region averaged 24 bushel an acre this year in comparison.

“That’s 10 bushels lower than the 10-year average,” Struthers said. “So that’s quite a hit, especially on a crop that is quite the money maker for many producers in the province.”

Crops yields this year are seeing a decrease of between 25 to 50 per cent throughout the province, depending on the crop and the region.

“Some areas were a little closer to average than others, and other areas were a far bit lower,” Struthers said.

When assessing quality, the crop expert said while there isn’t a regional breakdown available, spring wheat and flax held out quite well right across the province.

Canola also fared well.

“For canola the quality was surprisingly better than we expected,” he said.

Some other crops experienced more of an impact.

The quality of field peas suffered more from the adverse weather conditions this year. Struthers said the majority of them were graded as number two, and the rest as number one.

Barley also saw some impact.

“There is very little barley graded as malt. The majority was graded as one or two,” he said. “The same with durum. The majority was a little bit lower, so maybe that is just an indication on the requirements of those crops when it comes to moisture and just how they are susceptible to stresses.”

Looking at the province overall, the crops specialist said the area that received the most rain during the growing season was the southeast region. This area saw some of the best results.

“It’s kind of the opposite of a normal year,” he said. “Usually the northern regions are the ones who get the moisture and yield a bit better. But this year the southeast was kind of king, and took out most of the moisture.”

However, he added there may be pockets in the northwest region that fared better than others, with better expected results, depending on the individual situation.

With harvest wrapped up now this year for the most part, Struthers is hopeful the year ahead is more promising to help improve soil conditions in time for next year’s growing season.

“Now that everything is done, we just need a good rain going into winter, and hopefully a good dump of snow,” Struthers said.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow