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Snow delays harvest following good week

Oct 6, 2016 | 2:00 PM

The northwest region had a decent bump in harvest before the snow came through and covered the fields.

For the week of Sept. 27 to Oct. 3, 78 per cent of the crop is in the bin, up from 64 per cent last week. The five-year average for this time of year is 87 per cent harvested.

In the report, the Ministry of Agriculture said snow was reported at the time the report was written and Daphne Cruise, crop management specialist, said it now appears at least a week in good harvest weather was lost.

“Through most of the province and in the northwest and west-central as well (snow) definitely is going to set back harvest and delay harvest by quite a bit. When it started it sounded like it was going to be a two, three day kind of delay as far as the weather goes with rain and snow, but now it looks like its set in here until the weekend.”

Cruise said crops are feeling the effects of the snow and producers will need to get crops dry.

“When we get this kind of weather at this time, most of it’s going to be detrimental on any kind of cereals that are still out there and bleaching, sprouting and quality losses in that way. Canola and flax can stand up a bit better but again; it’s going to be drying to get that crop dry enough in order to take it off,” she said.

As for crop being left out over winter, Cruise said it was too early to say but she pointed to 2009 where producers were out to harvest in October and November after heavy rain in September.

It’s “definitely not under ideal conditions for harvest but producers were able to get it done and I think for the most part a lot of that crop was managed in the bin yard when it came to aeration and that kind of thing,” she said. “But it’s still too early to tell if there’s going to be any crop left out, we still have quite a bit of time here to try and pull it in.”

 

Matt Kelly is battlefordsNOW’s town municipal affairs and community reporter. He can be reached at mkelly@jpbg.ca or tweet him @mattjkelly2.