Harvest was at one per cent complete in the province looking at last week's crop report, with minimal progress being reported in 5/6 crop zones.
The only zone without any harvest progress between July 29-August 4 was West Central Saskatchewan, where 100 per cent of every crop — winter wheat, fall rye, spring wheat, durum, oats, barley, flax, canola, triticale, mustard, soybean, lentil, field pea, canary seed, chickpea — was reported as 100 per cent standing.
Many producers around the province, including right here locally, are giving their crops more time to fulfill yield potential as they are progressing at normal levels, but beginning to slightly fall behind as inconsistent rain and temperatures dominated the month of July.
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Perhaps local producers were able to get in the field and start harvest after August 4, but most were still waiting, as the only mention of harvest in the local report had to do with farms getting their machinery, as well as grain storage ready for when the time comes.
With all the harvest preparations beginning it's important to put safety top of mind, in a few different ways, such as increased attention on public roads with more farm equipment traffic. When you get behind farm machinery it's important to exercise patience and caution above all else.
Farmers themselves need to be careful too, remembering that hazards exist when they do eventually get to their destination. Dry fields can often present a fire risk, and now is a good time for producers to ensure they have all safety precautions in place to avoid a bad situation.
An update on early August harvest activity will be available in Thursday's latest crop report.