Harvest got under way a few weeks early this year with many fall seeded crops already in the bin and some activity on spring seeded crops.
Most of what’s coming off looks impressive with the notable exception of peas, said Bob Linnell, executive manager of Winter Cereals Canada. That’s in stark contrast to the crop remaining in the fields, which is rapidly deteriorating due to unusually hot and dry weather.
Crops that went in the ground early were able to take advantage of good spring moisture and were advanced enough to withstand the searing heat that scorched the Prairies in late July.
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“The quality so far looks good and the (winter wheat) yields I think are better than average,” said Linnell.
He said the new “bird series” of winter wheat like CDC Harrier, CDC Raptor and CDC Osprey are showing up “very, very well.”
Linnell doesn’t have a production estimate, but from what he’s heard from farmers, it should be an above normal crop of winter wheat, fall rye and winter triticale.
It’s a different story for the peas that have been combined in Saskatchewan.
“They’ve matured prematurely so we’re definitely going to be looking at reduced yield potential,” said Garth Patterson, executive director of Saskatchewan Pulse Growers.
Peas went in the ground in April and are coming off about two weeks earlier than usual, said Patterson. But unlike the fall crops that took full advantage of good spring moisture, the peas seem to be heat stressed.
“We’re still looking at more tonnes than last year, but we’re certainly not looking at above average yields, which is what we had hoped,” said Patterson.
Saskatoon crop broker Larry Weber, of Weber Commodities Ltd., has toured pea fields and said it isn’t pretty.
“This time of year you should never be able to walk in between peas,” said Weber, who did just that in many fields.
He said the peas in the area he toured in west-central and northwestern Saskatchewan will yield between 15 and 20 bushels per acre. Early season estimates called for a pea crop of 2.8 million tonnes. Weber thinks it could come in as much as one million tonnes below that.
Alberta Agriculture crop specialist Doon Pauly said the pea crop in that province wasn’t hammered like it was last year because many fields had already flowered when the heat wave hit.
“I think they flowered early enough they’re going to get reasonably good yields,” he said.
Fall crops have already been combined in southern Alberta and have been at the swathing stage for a few weeks in the central region.
Weber said fall rye should yield between 45 and 50 bu. per acre in Saskatchewan, and the winter wheat is looking dynamite.
“I saw some amazing winter wheat crops, even in the north.”
Rob Park, crop specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, said winter wheat in the southwest part of the province is coming off at 30-50 bu. per acre, which is 20-40 percent below average.
In the central and eastern regions it is yielding between 45 and 70 bu. per acre, which is close to the long-term average. Fall rye is yielding 45 bu. in eastern Manitoba.
Some combining of spring wheat and barley and swathing of canola is already happening in the eastern portion of Manitoba, where yields are expected to be significantly above average.
“We are probably a week to two weeks ahead of normal this year because we had a tremendous amount of planting happening in April,” said Park.
