News Harvesting
Prairie harvest progress continues to beat previous years’ averages

Harvest of major crops continues to outpace five- and 10-year averages in the Prairie provinces, with relatively little rain to hinder progress and no major frost events reported as of yet.

Manitoba

As of Sept. 21, overall harvest progress sits at 78 per cent – well ahead of the five-year average of 69 per cent. Field pea is the only crop that has been completely harvested in all regions of the province, with spring wheat, oats and barley nearing completion at 97 per cent. Canola harvest has seen a rapid push recently, currently sitting at 85 per cent provincially, so that producers can shift their attention to soybeans (currently at 14 per cent complete).

Flax (+22 per cent), canola (+12 per cent), barley (+11 per cent), spring wheat (+10 per cent) and oats (+8 per cent) are ahead of the five-year harvest average, while soybean (-3 per cent) and dry bean (-18 per cent) lag behind. Most regions saw some rain, though the northwest and parts of the south-central regions received minimal amounts. |READ MORE

Saskatchewan

As of Sept. 13, 78 per cent of the crop has been combined – up from 56 per cent last week and far ahead of the five-year average of 50 per cent for this time of year. Most of the province received very little rainfall, which continues to have negative implications for topsoil moisture conditions but has helped crop dry-down and harvest progress.

Lentils and peas are closing in on harvest completion at 99 per cent and 98 per cent, respectively. Harvest of durum wheat (89 per cent), barley (88 per cent), mustard (86 per cent) and spring wheat (83 per cent) is also well underway. |READ MORE

Alberta

As of Sept. 14, harvest conditions continue to be favourable. Major crops are being harvested at a steady rate, with 18 per cent combined in the week preceding Sept. 14. Overall, 60.5 per cent of major crops have been harvested – far more than the five- and 10-year averages of 28.4 per cent and 31.9 per cent, respectively.

Since the beginning of September, many areas have received more than 15 millimetres (mm) of rain, which has helped improve provincial soil moisture reserves by two per cent. Much of the northwest region and the eastern half of the Peace region have recorded more than 40 mm of rain, while the south and northeast regions have received less than 5 mm. There have been no widespread frost events yet, but hailstorms were reported in the central region, with damage to be determined. |READ MORE