Crop conditions vary from one field to the next in the southeast corner of Saskatchewan.
“The crop conditions are fair considering the lack of moisture that we’ve had going into the winter and then the limited precipitation that we had throughout the growing season,” says Vicky Armstrong, field supervisor with Saskatchewan Crop Insurance out of the Moosomin Customer Service Office (CSO). She is currently the acting manager as well.
“The rainfall is very variable across our whole area,” explains Armstrong.
Areas covered by the Moosomin office include Redvers west to Carlyle, angling over to Windthorst and Corning, and up to the Grenfell area. It follows the Qu’Appelle Valley, north to Langenburg and Churchbridge and all along the Manitoba border.
“Some areas did receive the rain in a timely manner and other areas were very limited in the precipitation they received,” said Armstrong. “Even within a few miles we can see the difference in yields.”
“It’s so variable and patchy, it’s really hard to highlight which area may look better than the next,” explains Armstrong. “I would say that Windthorst north to Grenfell received that large amount of wet, wet snow early in the season and that seemed to help the season through.”
Grasshoppers seem to be a concern in some areas more than others.
“Early in the season we weren’t really seeing them anywhere throughout our CSO but they did move in from further south. We were seeing them more in the Corning/Carlyle area first. We heard reports that Estevan and Weyburn were seeing them as well and they have slowly moved across pretty much the whole area, but the numbers aren’t as high as in other areas of the province,” explains Armstrong.
“We’re not really seeing the grasshoppers by roads or in yards…it’s more when we get out into the higher grass in the ditches and in the fields. You can see them move as you walk through these areas.”
Crop Insurance adjusters have been checking in with farmers as to whether or not the grasshoppers have been causing damage to their crops.
“There are some reports of some grasshopper damage but not extreme as of yet and we’re hoping that the farmers are able to get some of these crops harvested prior to any ongoing damage from them,” says Armstrong.
Reports of bushels to the acre for different crops between Windthorst and Carlyle vary as well.
“We’re hearing reports of 20 to 40 bushel range for peas and samples are actually looking quite promising,” said Armstrong.
“I haven’t heard any reports of the grains yet,” said Armstrong. “Producers are just opening up their fields and swathing some of the canola.”
“We are holding out promise as the fields look to have considerably good stands.”
“The pods do look like they are filling and we’re hoping that it does produce a decent yield from that.”
“There are spots where you can clearly see that heat stress in the canola when we had that extreme week and a half of heat, you can see it in the pods where the middle point of the plant will have smaller pods and they’re not filling as well.”
Crop Insurance staff are hearing various comments from the farmers in the area, but farmers are optimistic.
“In general, they’re very positive,” says Armstrong. “They’re pleased with what they’re seeing out there given the conditions.”
Armstrong goes on to explain:
“Our local offices are available for support to all of our producers and we would like to remind all of our producers in response to the feed shortage this year, Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation has doubled the low yield appraisal threshold for customers who want to salvage their cereals or pulses for feed sources.
This won’t negatively impact their future individual coverages.
“We’re asking producers if they want to put their cereals and pulses to an alternative use to contact one of our local offices prior to doing so.”
