It has been a hot and dry summer for most of southeastern Saskatchewan, but that hasn’t impacted many yields in the area.

Dale Paslawski farms near Cedoux, and thinks the start of harvesting is just around the corner.

“As long as it doesn’t rain, we’re going to be – probably by the end of next week, harvest will be in full swing in the Weyburn area,” he said.

August is typically the time of year when harvest begins for most farmers in Saskatchewan. Surprisingly, the dry summer we’ve experienced hasn’t slowed down the process.

“We’re slightly ahead of schedule. I had combine spring wheat in July one year, but that was in 1988 when it was our last drought,” Paslawski said. “But we’re ahead. Usually we start around the 20th of August, that’s when everyone gets going real hard.”

With harvest picking up more next week, farmers will get some relief from the heat. Temperatures are expected to dip down to the low thirties and high twenties for most of next week.

Paslawski is excited to begin harvesting, and about the product he is going to be selling.

“From what I rubbed out of my durum here, the quality looks like it’s right at the top,” he claimed.

Although the weather isn’t affecting the quality of crops, Paslawski said people in the agriculture industry are definitely feeling the heat.

“It’s hard on people and hard on livestock, and machinery. But this is perfect for harvest. It’s desiccating our crop naturally, and we’re bringing it in real fast,” he said.

The Saskatchewan Crop Report for Friday, August 6th showed fifty-five percent of all fall rye being harvested, with fifteen percent of winter wheat and 7 percent of lentils in bins.