Producers were faced with several hardships this season including drought, hail, rain at the wrong time and even some frost.

As of Friday afternoon an estimated 50 percent of the crops across the M.D. of Provost were harvested. That number was pushed higher over the weekend with continued operations but Monday morning crops were wet from showers in the Provost area.

All pea harvesting is complete.

Some farmers are done their harvest operations entirely.

Crop specialist, Jim Broatch says that his guess is that the crop is below average in both yield and quality as compared to normal years.

“The weather was the biggest factor this year, it threw a lot of curves into what was being done” on the farmland.

The crop specialist, stationed in Provost adds that it’s been a weird year and pointed to the problem of second growth in many crops that held up harvest for some. The second growth came about because of hail that knocked seeds onto the ground and then germinated. Farmers waited for some of that second growth to mature before it was harvested so that grades would not be marked lower.

In addition to baling some producers are cutting greenfeed and putting it down in swaths for cattle to feed on.

Broatch says that farmers will make plans about planting for next year in the winter when they see what prices are being offered for different crops. He noted that an inventory of canola sitting in bins from last year may start to disappear this winter.

Agricore worker Brent Cartier at Provost says harvest should finish up very soon if the weather if suitable. He said the below average yields can be blamed on hail damage. He says that the samples they are seeing translate into about 20 percent of the wheat graded as number 1; 50 percent as number 2 grade, two percent as feed; and the balance as number three grade. Cartier says that in this district wheat was ranging anywhere from eight to 30 bushels per acre while canola registered 12 to 25 bushels per acre.

At Pioneer Grain elevator in Hayter, Jeff Wilson says that mainly just wheat and some oat crops are left to harvest. He said that in his district yields vary from barley at 25 bushels per acre all the way to 95 bushels per acre for one farmer. Another farmer told him that 60 bushels per acre of wheat was being taken off of one field. The average for wheat in the Hayter area is 28 bushels per acre while canola is 30 to 35 and barley 40 to 45 bushels per acre. Wilson adds that the best crop of the year would have been malting barley but because of sprouting and hail damage little of it graded malting. Wheat meanwhile is one of the better crops with the majority of it being graded as number two. There is very little number one wheat being brought in he told The News.

• Bin Space

Broatch says that he has not seen much grain stored on the ground so believes there there is good bin space in the area. He has noticed some grain on the ground in Saskatchewan, however.

Meanwhile the crops specialist says they are getting calls about fall weed control and there is some question whether chemicals should be used on some weeds as frost has already killed some of them.

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