Hot weather helping speed up crop development in Saskatchewan

Hot weather over the past week has accelerated crop development in many parts of Saskatchewan, but some farmers in drier areas are hoping to get some rain.

That’s according to the weekly crop report from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, which covered the week ending on Monday.

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The province saw very limited rainfall over the week covered by the report, the ministry said, aside from some scattered thunderstorms. The Coleville area saw the most rain, with 25 millimetres, followed by the Calder (24mm) and Rabbit Lake (22mm) areas. Most other areas reported rainfall between 10 and 20mm.

Humidity was high across the province as the hot weather followed heavy rainfall earlier this summer. The ministry said humid conditions created some challenges during haying, slowing down both cutting and baling, but farmers continued to make good progress, with producers even wrapping up haying operations in southern regions. Fungicide applications are also winding down for later-seeded crops, while some producers are already starting to plan their harvests.

Despite the humid conditions slowing down haying during the week covered by the report, the agriculture ministry noted that some producers have had a second cut from their hay crops. For first cuts, hay quality was rated as 29 per cent excellent, 62 per cent good and nine per cent fair, while most second-cut hay was rated fair to good.

After the warm week, topsoil moisture levels in cropland across the province were rated as five per cent surplus, 67 per cent adequate, 27 per cent short and one per cent very short. It was a similar story in hayland, where moisture was rated as four per cent surplus, 64 per cent adequate, 31 per cent short and one per cent very short. In Saskatchewan’s pastures, topsoil moisture was rated as two per cent surplus, 58 per cent adequate, 36 per cent short and four per cent very short.

With harvest season approaching quickly, the ministry said most winter cereal crops are in good-to-excellent condition, while most spring cereals are in excellent shape.

“Oilseed crops are largely in good condition, but the high temperatures during flowering periods stressed some crops. Most oilseed crops are now out of flowering stage and in podding stage,” the ministry wrote in its report.

“Approximately two-thirds to three-quarters of pulse crops are in good to excellent condition. However, a notable portion are in fair condition, and some are in poor condition due to moisture stress earlier in the growing season.”

Some crop stress was caused by the hot, dry conditions over the past week, the ministry said, and producers in southern and western parts of the province are hoping for some more rain to help their crops set seed. Other crop damage caused by cabbage seed pod weevils, aphids and gophers was also reported.

“Producers are busy finishing in-crop spraying while some are starting to prepare for harvest by servicing equipment, cleaning out bins and planning desiccation,” the ministry said.