Farmers across Saskatchewan are well behind on harvest progress with the province reporting 41 per cent of crops are in the bin – well behind the five-year average of 82 per cent. The delay in harvest operations are mainly due to rainfall, humidity and wet field conditions, according to the province’s latest crop report for Sept. 15 to 21. The southwest is reported to have completed 67 per cent of its harvest, followed by the west-central region at 45 per cent, the southeast at 38 per cent, and the east-central areas of the province at 29 per cent. Sitting at the bottom of the report is the northwest at 26 per cent and the northeast at 24 per cent completion. John Kotylak, who farms mostly canola and wheat in the Balcarres area, said he is around 32 per cent done his harvest. Although behind, he credits his progress so far to his grain dryer, noting the wet conditions have dragged the entire process out. “Not much dry grain has been taken off. It’s all gone through the dryer,” Kotylak told CTV News Thursday morning, as he waited for the fog to clear up before heading out in the field. “If you do get a day here or there then, you are progressing, but those days are few and far between this year.” Kotylak said he had 60 per cent of his crops off the field at this time last year. However, the constant humidity has constantly interrupted progress in the field. “We were doing some fall pre-work on other fields whereas this year we’re moving grain every day, from the wet bins into the dryer, from the dry bins into bigger bins,” Kotylak explained. “Your days, it’s not just fill up the combines fix whatever, you’re going from when the sun comes up till the sun goes down.” The crop report accounts for winter cereals, pulses and spring-seeded cereal crops of harvest progress, with winter cereal harvest reporting to be nearly complete. More details to come…
