Farmscape for July 31, 2018
Saskatchewan Agriculture reports below average crop yields are anticipated in the south but expectations increase heading north.
Saskatchewan Agriculture's weekly crop report, released last week, indicates this year's harvest is expected to get underway slightly earlier than normal but behind last year.
Shannon Friesen, a Crops Extension Specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture, says yield expectations range from below average in the south to above average in the north.
Clip-Shannon Friesen-Saskatchewan Agriculture:
Certainly when we compare it to what we would normally expect, we will likely be below normal in some areas and in some other areas we may have about average to above average.
Again, those areas that have been drier since springtime that really haven't seen the rain, a lot of those earlier seeded crops are ripening quickly and the yield potential has decreased quite severely in some of those areas so we're not expecting to have even an average yield in many areas in the south.
But the more we go north and the more moisture of course the yield potential is a lot higher.
Again we've had several weeks of very hot temperatures.
We will see some heat blast damage in many of our canola crops.
It's starting to show up in a lot of fields.
We've had very strong winds, we've had some hail, some localized flooding and the lack of moisture is likely what's going to cause our biggest damage this year.
We have had some reports of grasshoppers and some other insects.
Disease wise we're still doing OK although we have heard reports of some Fusarium head blight showing up in some wheat fields as well as some sclerotinia in canola.
Of course that is mainly in areas on the east side of the province that have gotten just a little more moisture than other areas.
Friesen says the hope now is for some really good harvest weather so, even yields fall short. hopefully the quality will be maintained.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.
*Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork