HUMBOLDT - Producers in the northeast are just starting to get their combines into spring fields and are less than one per cent completed harvest, according to crop report for the period of August 1 to August 7. Producers are eyeing crop maturity levels closely so that they will be able to start combining as soon as possible.
Producers are starting to make progress with harvesting fall cereals. Winter wheat is 99 per cent harvested and fall rye at 33 per cent complete. Crops such as durum (42 per cent), chickpeas (18 per cent) and mustard (26 per cent) have been taken off for livestock feed uses other than harvesting the grain (livestock feed, etc.). Field peas are also being harvested, with two per cent of the crop in the bin.
Hay yields in the northeast are estimated to be 1.8 tons per acre for alfalfa and brome/alfalfa. Other tame hay is estimated at 0.8 tons per acre, while wild hay is estimated to yield 1.0 tons per acre. Greenfeed is estimated at 1.2 tons per acre and sileage is estimated at 4.5 tons per acre.
Some producers received moisture this week, with the most being recorded in the Humboldt area with 29 mm. Other areas received little to trace amounts. Soil moisture in the northeast is the least limited in the province. Thirty-four per cent of cropland has adequate topsoil moisture, 55 per cent is short and 11 per cent is short. Hay and pasture land moisture is more limited, with 15 per cent being adequate, 55 per cent being short and 30 per cent very short.
Crop damage this past week is due to drought stress and grasshoppers. Producers are busy combining, desiccating crops and working with cattle.
