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Neither rain, nor wind, nor heat, nor hail will keep Saskatchewan farmers from bringing in the harvest — but the recent wild weather isn’t making their job easy.
As dramatic storms lit up the skies with lightning and thunder last weekend and areas of southeastern Saskatchewan reported nearly 100 mm of rain, some farmers’ fields took a bad beating.
“The storms brought strong winds and heavy hail and in some areas, the hail was as large as golf balls, resulting in total crop loss for some producers,” Saskatchewan’s weekly crop report said.
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“Crop damage over the past week was mainly due to strong winds, heavy rain and hail resulting in lodged or completely lost crops.”
On top of that, the crop report noted there were “several field, equipment and bale fires across the province over the past week,” which can very quickly grow into dangerous and destructive blazes if they aren’t extinguished.
With summer beginning to wane, migrating birds are also starting to visit farmers’ fields.
“As they make their way south, birds such as geese and cranes have moved into fields with swathed crops to feast for their long journey,” said the crop report. “Producers hope they do not stay too long or congregate in great numbers, which could result in trampled or eaten swaths.”
Despite the weather and other hazards, the harvest is still progressing slightly ahead of schedule, and a full 25 per cent of the crop is now harvested.
Watch: Harvest in Saskatchewan
According to the crop report, some producers in southwestern and west-central Saskatchewan “could wrap up harvest by next week.”
Though the recent thunderstorms did help shore up topsoil moisture in some areas, receiving this kind of rain at this point in the season “has little benefit for the crops besides helping to mitigate fire risk,” the crop report noted.
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Some regions of Saskatchewan are still very hot and dry, and are therefore expecting a smaller yield from their harvest this year. The lack of moisture is already causing some concern for next year, too.
“These areas will need substantial rainfall and snow coverage to ensure a good start to the 2025 growing season.”‘
Watch: How cropland topsoil moisture conditions changed in 2024
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