Cool, wet weather has plagued prairie crops more than frost in recent days, slowing harvest progress to a crawl.
There was little or no harvesting observed in any of the provinces last week.
Grant McLean, cropping management specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture, said a light frost of –1 C touched crops around Regina and Broadview but lasted only an hour.
“As cool as it was, there wasn’t anyplace where there was significant damage,” he said.
McLean said good humidity and wet conditions also worked in the crop’s favour by warding off the effects of frost.
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Most vulnerable are late seeded crops, especially canola, along with immature malting barley and durum.
Saskatchewan’s southwest and southeast are the furthest along in harvesting progress, with less activity reported in west-central areas.
Spotty rain showers are likely again this week but warmer temperatures are also expected.
“There doesn’t appear to be a stretch of nice weather you can depend on,” said James Wright of the Agriculture Financial Services Corp. in Alberta.
“It’s not going to be the greatest of harvest weather.”
Wright said temperatures hovering as low as –2 C have not caused significant damage.
Frost touching the exterior of a plant can cause downgrades by making the kernels wrinkle, but the more serious concern is when ice crystals form within plant cells.
Rain and cool temperatures are bigger concerns than light frost, hampering the progress of Alberta’s crops that are already 10 to 14 days behind normal development.
“Crops still have a ways to go before finishing up,” said Wright.
Shorter fall days and temperatures in the teens narrow the window of opportunity for harvest, he said.
The south and Peace areas are most advanced in harvesting progress, and least advanced in the northwest.
He is predicting farmers will take off an average crop in 2008.
Manitoba has already placed 90 percent of its crop in the bin from the Red River Valley and Carman regions, with about half completed in the southwest and northwest.
Much of the canola and oats are still out, but a good amount of the cereals have been harvested.
Manitoba has largely escaped frost, except for some temperatures hovering around zero and some light touches reported briefly around Beausejour and in eastern areas.
“We came very close,” said Rob Park of Manitoba Agriculture at Carman, Man.
He said most Manitoba areas do not typically see frost until mid month.
“We would really like to see it at the end of September,” he said, citing vulnerable long-season crops like corn, sunflowers, soybeans and edible beans.
Harvest has been slowed slightly by recent cool, wet conditions that brought operations to a standstill last week. The Interlake, which contributes less than 10 percent to the provincial crop total, is still dealing with extremely wet conditions.
