Producers are preparing for harvest in the east-central region this week and are testing their grain moisture levels to gauge when to start combining, according to the crop report for the period of July 25 to 31. Some have made a small amount of progress with harvest already. The excess moisture this spring has caused a slight delay in harvest as compared to the rest of the province.

Minimal rain was received this week. The Lumsden area reported the most rain with just six mm, the rest of the region received only trace amounts of precipitation, if any. Topsoil moisture further declined this week; seven per cent of cropland has adequate topsoil moisture, 57 per cent is short and 36 per cent is very short.

Hay and pasture land follow a similar pattern where eight per cent has adequate moisture, 48 per cent is short and 44 per cent is very short. Producers are hoping for additional moisture to help with next year’s crop.

A lack of rain throughout the growing season meant pasture conditions declined. Two per cent of pastures are in good condition, 30 per cent are fair, 48 per cent are poor and 20 per cent are very poor.

Crop damage this week was due to drought and grasshopper pressure. Producers are busy preparing for harvest, assessing crop yields and feed supplies and finishing haying and silage operations.

Source - https://www.sasktoday.ca