HUMBOLDT - Harvest was postponed for many this past week as some rainstorms rolled through and made for very poor harvesting conditions. Fifty-eight per cent of the crop is now in the bin, up from 41 per cent last week and ahead of the five-year average of 51 per cent. Producers are hoping for warm, dry weather to advance crop maturity and assist with drying down, especially on canola, where some stalks remain green.
There was some very good precipitation across the region last week with many areas receiving more than an inch. The Prince Albert area received 41 mm, the Melfort area 30 mm, the Zenon Park and Star City areas 25 mm and the Humboldt area 12 mm.
Cropland topsoil moisture is rated as 77 per cent adequate and 23 per cent short. Hay and pasture land topsoil moisture is rated as 68 per cent adequate and 32 per cent short. After harvest has concluded in the region, crop and pasture land would benefit from further rainfall.
Pasture conditions are rated as seven per cent excellent, 41 per cent good, 43 per cent fair, eight per cent poor and one per cent very poor. Pastures in this region are in better shape than they were last year and producers are much less concerned about their ability to graze cattle, a couple gentle rains in the fall however, would do them some good.
The majority of crop damage this past week was due to wind, frost and waterfowl. The rain has caused some weed growth along with some crop regrowth, producers are evaluating the need to spray. The areas that received heavy amounts of rain fall are also at a higher risk of seeing their standing or swathed cereal crops become downgraded due to bleaching.
Producers are busy swathing, combining, drying grain and hauling bales.
