Cowboys are smiling while farmers are crossing their fingers after bouts of heavy rain and unseasonably cool weather slowed harvest.
Grant McLean, cropping management specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture, said this year’s conditions are ideal for livestock operations, offering a rebirth for pastures stressed by a higher than normal number of animals. It’s a real kick start for next year’s hay lands, he said.
“If you’re a cowboy, you try not to smile too much about this,” said McLean. “This moisture has been a silver lining for those guys in livestock.”
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But for farmers, the moisture has caused sprouting in swathed and standing crops of malting barley in northeastern and east-central regions and downgraded the quality to feed.
While a setback for producers looking for high yields and good quality crops, the sprouted barley offers the potential of a cheaper feed source for livestock producers, said McLean.
Similar sprouting is also reported in winter wheat and fall rye in eastern Saskatchewan.
While warmer weather returned this past week, rains of up to 50 millimetres in areas such as Yorkton, Sask., added to the stress of many fields already saturated by heavy rains in late August.
An area in eastern Saskatchewan extending from Hudson Bay to Yorkton to Moosomin got a heavy shot of rain again on Aug. 30, McLean noted. He said severe rains in northwestern Saskatchewan areas such as Maidstone left behind muddy fields, harvest challenges and likely downgraded crops.
“The amount of deterioration depends on how soon the guys can get back in the field,” he said.
Prairie-wide forecasts for the first week of September promised warm, dry weather.
“If you get a nice warm five to seven days, we can do a lot,” he said. “The next couple weeks will be critical for many people.”
Combining is delayed, especially in western Saskatchewan, which typically sees more crop harvested by the end of August.
In the southeast, one farmer who has combined half his fields is reporting an average crop, said McLean. Peas and winter wheat there were a disappointment, falling prey to more disease than expected this year.
On the up side, heat accumulations are up from last year and moisture levels are in good shape for next year’s crop, McLean noted.
Seeking sunshine
Alberta is hoping for sunny skies and gentle winds to help speed its harvest.
“We are hoping for more heat in Alberta,” said Jim Broatch, crop specialist with Alberta Agriculture at Stettler. He expected harvest operations would be widespread by the second week of September.
Peas are being combined and pockets of other crops are close to being ripe, he said.
Broatch said Alberta is looking at an above average crop generally, particularly for canola and wheat, but quality is dependent on the weather this month.
In Manitoba, another three weeks of seasonable weather could help bring in a good crop of corn, sunflowers and soybeans.
Don Dixon, manager with Manitoba Agriculture’s crops branch, said prospects are not good for other crops due to excess moisture in the spring and hot, dry weather in summer.
“It’s still too early to know in detail what crops are going to look like but all in all, for Manitoba producers, it’s been a disappointing year,” said Dixon.
Hardest hit was the Red River Valley and eastern areas of the province, while well-drained and hilly regions could yet produce good crops, he said.
Statistics Canada recent estimates are calling for 40 percent fewer grains to be harvested in Manitoba this season.
