Harvest lagging behind five-year average

Recent rainstorms in the province have delayed harvest throughout Saskatchewan.

According to the provincial government’s weekly crop report, farmers currently have just over one per cent of the 2019 crop swathed or ready to straight-cut and less than one per cent combined.

The average for this time of year over the past five years is five per cent swathed or ready to straight-cut and four per cent combined.

The government says farmers in the central and northern regions of the province have less than one per cent of their crops in the bin. The most progress has been made in the southeast and southwest regions, where one per cent of the crop is now combined.

Seventeen per cent of the fall rye, 14 per cent of the winter wheat, three per cent of the field peas and one per cent of the lentils that were grown this year are now in bins.

The report suggested that rainfall last week ranged from trace amounts to 82 millimetres around Pense. Reported crop damage during the week was due to strong winds and localized flooding.

Harvest operations are expected to begin in earnest in the coming weeks.