The overnight frost that hit southeast Saskatchewan on Sept. 12 and 13 wasn鈥檛 hard enough to damage the area鈥檚 later maturing crops said Saskatchewan Agriculture crop specialist Sherri Roberts.
About 70 per cent of the southeast crops are already in the bins and harvest operations are back to normal, she said, having spotted steady progress on the combining and swathing fronts in the past two weeks.
鈥淭here are some soybeans still out there, waiting for another week or two and as far as the pea crops are concerned, well, they are all over the place in terms of quality and volume. I鈥檓 seeing 60 bushels to the acre around Weyburn and 55 around Oxbow and then all kinds of other readings throughout the region,鈥� Roberts said.
There are still a few flax and barley fields yet to be knocked down, so the quality report on those products will have to come a bit later.
Lentils suffered from the increased moisture late in the growing season that allowed some root rot to set in and reduce production to about 25 to 30 bushels per acre. There could be further issues in grading lentils too, she said, since some are grading at a No. 3 level whereas at least a No. 2 grade is required to qualify for exports, so she figures there will be some significant moves toward blending area crops in an attempt to improve the grades.
Fusarium hit a few spring wheat crops this year, but they are still grading average to above average on the whole for quality as are the yields. 鈥淲e might see some issues with protein content, but for the most part, these crops came through very well. But the fields have definitely varied when it comes to peas and lentils,鈥� she said.
Roberts said she was still observing some green canola fields in her travels, but that has not raised any major concerns with some good harvest weather still expected heading into the latter part of the month.
Moisture conditions, she reiterated, are definitely varied around the southeast.
鈥淭he other day I was taking a soil sample from a field around Estevan and had to dig hard because the soil was so crusty, yet around Glenavon, for instance, it鈥檚 muddy.鈥�
As far as the soybeans are concerned, even though most of them haven鈥檛 been harvested yet, they appear to be in good condition with only a few quality reductions. An early bean crop came in recently around the Moosomin area that was yielding 40 bushels per acre.
Corn for grain, not a huge crop in this region, is coming in nicely as is the forage corn crops.
鈥淎 little fall moisture would be good for the pastures,鈥� Roberts noted, suggesting a rain or two after the harvest would be ideal for a good part the region.
Haying operations were mixed in the southeast this year. A lot of the hay that had been cut in July, ended up being reduced in value when the heavy rains arrived, but it has been relatively dry ever since, allowing the ranchers and farmers to pick up what is needed, even if the nutrition value has been reduced. 鈥淭here wasn鈥檛 much out there for a second cut,鈥� she added. 鈥淏ut then, that鈥檚 the way it has been all summer around here, it鈥檚 been a hit-and-miss situation for moisture depending on where you are located.鈥�
