NORTH BATTLEFORD - Another hot week has allowed many crops in the region to begin to dry down and get ready for harvest, producers have been busy spraying desiccants and swathing but very little combining has been done so far. Harvest progress has reached one per cent of the crop now combined in the region, just behind the five-year average (2017-2021) of four per cent for this time of year.
There was very little rainfall this past week. Producers are happy to see it remain dry for the time being but would like to see the rains return once harvest is complete. Cropland topsoil moisture is rated as one per cent surplus, 70 per cent adequate and 29 per cent short. Hay and pasture land topsoil moisture is rated as 53 per cent adequate, 45 per cent short and two per cent very short. Pasture conditions in the region are rated as one per cent excellent, 50 per cent good, 37 per cent fair and twelve per cent poor.
The majority of crop damage this week was due to heat stress after a week of hot weather. Disease is another large contributor to crop damage in the region with fusarium being found in cereal crops and sclerotinia in canola. There have also been a few reports of minor pressure from lygus and diamondback moths.
