Widespread frosts across much the Prairies over the past several days, with snow accumulation in some regions, will cause crop damage. Late-season soybean and corn are most susceptible to damage, and unharvested cereal and corn silage crops are likely to experience quality loss and nitrate accumulation.
Manitoba
Canola, flax, soybean and dry bean crop harvests are well behind the three-year average. Spring wheat and oat harvests are also lagging, which is doubly unfortunate in combination with the damaging frosts.
In better news, field pea harvest is almost complete, and reports of average to good yields and quality are widespread.
Challenging harvest conditions due to extreme weather conditions affecting crops and preventing harvest are posing a serious challenge to farmers’ mental health. Anyone experiencing difficulty is encouraged to reach out to professional help or discuss their concerns with others.
For a regional breakdown of crop progress and conditions, visit the Manitoba Ag crop report for Sept. 8.
Saskatchewan
As of the last week of August, harvest was progressing quickly due to warm, dry weather in most of the province, which helped dry crops down and allowed producers to get into the fields. While the warm weather and low precipitation were good for harvest conditions, they led to deterioration of topsoil moisture conditions in many regions and damaged some crops.
The percentage of all crops combined as of Aug. 31 is 28 per cent, which is higher than the five-year average by six per cent and the ten-year average by 10 per cent. Winter wheat and fall rye are almost completely combined, with lentils and peas coming along at 81 per cent and 73 per cent respectively.
For the complete crop report and the crop report for Sept. 1 to 7 (when it’s published), visit the Saskatchewan Ag crop report website.
Alberta
As of Sept. 1, harvest operations were progressing across much of the province thanks to favourable weather conditions and low precipitation the previous week. The weather also helped advance crop maturity and allowed producers to combine peas and swath canola and barley.
Across the province, pasture conditions are doing much better than the three-year average, though conditions in the south regions are mostly in the “fair” range. The percentage of major field crops harvested is consistently above last year’s percentages, and within range of the three-year averages (with some regions higher, and some lower).
It remains to be seen what the impact of the cold snap will be on unharvested crops.
For the full breakdown, visit the Alberta Ag Sept. 1 crop report.
