The weather was the main focus of the Government of Saskatchewan’s latest crop report.
“Due to a break in the extreme heat and some timely rains, crop conditions are largely rated as fair to good. Some areas of the province have large portions of crops rated as excellent, with the highest ratings being seen in cereals,” the Ministry of Agriculture said in the report.
Where rain was received, crops continued to have normal development, with those areas that have received semi-regular rain faring much better, with some producers expecting a better crop than last year.
In areas, such as the west-central region, that did not receive rain remained very day with crops beginning to go backwards in development and condition.
Rainfall varied this past week, ranging from none in many areas to 69 mm in areas around Bienfait. The Lipton area received 51 millimetres, the Duck Lake area 32.5 millimetres and the Kindersley, Eyebrow and Vanguard areas received 22 millimetres.
The dry condition has pushed some grain producers in the southwest and west-central regions to begin desiccating some of their pulse crops to prepare them for combining.
Last week, the hot weather across the province caused a slight decline in topsoil moisture, with the highest dry soils in the western half of the province.
For this past week, cropland topsoil moisture is rated as five per cent surplus, 63 per cent adequate, 26 per cent short, and six per cent very short. Hay and pasture land topsoil moisture are rated as two per cent surplus, 62 per cent adequate, 26 per cent short and 10 per cent very short.
Some adverse weather has made haying difficult for some producers and has resulted in lower quality hay than some were expecting. However, haying operations are now at 24 per cent standing, 24 per cent cut, and 52 per cent baled or silage.
Hay quality is rated as 19 per cent excellent, 62 per cent good, 18 per cent fair, and one per cent poor. Hay yields for dry land hay range from 1.06 tons/ac to 1.84 tons/ac; for irrigated hay, the yields range from 2.16 tons/ac to 2.97 tons/ac. Some producers can replenish their feedstocks from last year, while others are still worried about going into the winter short on feed.
