Harvest seems to be moving at a snail's pace around West Central in comparison to the rest of the province.
At one per cent complete according to the August 12-18 crop report, the region is notably behind its neighbours in the southwest who are close to 10 per cent done. However, it's a variable situation around the province as the northeast and northwest zones also only have one per cent out of the ground, the southeast at one per cent, and southeast at four per cent.
The complete set of numbers helped the provincial average come in at three per cent, a total well behind the five- and ten-year averages. This time last year the province was 15 per cent complete harvest with the southwest reading nearly 30 per cent in the bin.
That is far from the case this year as recent weather trends have brought a combination of rainfall, humidity and low temperatures to delay both harvest and crop development. Humid mornings made for short harvest days and poor desiccating conditions, but hot weather ahead this week should flip that script as a big week could be ahead in terms of speeding up crop maturity.
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Harvest progress will continue as the sunshine takes over this week. The most recent crop report had fall cereals in the lead with 50 per cent of winter wheat and eight per cent of fall rye in the bin. That's the only notable progress as cereals, spring wheat, and barley are all at five per cent, durum at one per cent. Pulses like lentils and peas are six per cent in the bin.
Because harvest is a very busy and stressful time, producers are reminded to take safety precautions to keep safe. Read more about the safety side of things below as fire prevention is a big topic, and if you are feeling stressed feel free to contact the "Farm Stress Line" at 1-800-667-4442.
Extra harvest equipment could be out and out about public roads, so be sure to exercise caution whenever the situation calls.