Harvest is underway in the southeast, ahead of the rest of the province.

“About three percent has been combined now and four percent has been swathed or is ready to straight cut,” said Allie Noble, Crop Extension Specialist. “With the hot weather we’ve seen, and the lack of moisture, crops are definitely rapidly maturing in the area, so there will be a lot of combines going in the next week or so.”

Producers are busy harvesting, hauling bales and desiccating crops.

Hay yields, however, are below average overall.

“Baling is mostly wrapped up in the southeast region, as far as we’ve seen,” she said. “The haying operations, the yields are definitely lower than usual, but that’s to be expected with the amount of moisture we’ve had this year, so most producers are just finishing up, they’re hauling their bales now.”

She noted that rainfalls have been spotty across the southeast as to where rain has fallen.

“The lack of rain hasn’t affected quality too much,” said Noble. “But it has affected yields in the fact that most yields that have been reported are average to well below average.”

The five-year average for this time of year is one per cent combined. Reported yields so far range from average to well-below average.

55 per cent of the fall rye, 15 per cent of the winter wheat, eight per cent of the field peas and seven per cent of the lentils are now in the bin. One per cent of the canola has been swathed.

Most producers in the central and northern regions are expecting to be in the field within the next few weeks.

More from the Saskatchewan Agriculture Crop Report:

Estimated average dryland hay yields for the province are: 1.1 tons per acre for alfalfa and alfalfa/bromegrass; 0.9 ton per acre for other tame hay; 1.0 ton per acre for wild hay and 1.6 tons per acre for greenfeed. Estimated average irrigated hay yields are: 2.8 tons per acre for alfalfa; 2.7 tons per acre for alfalfa/bromegrass; 2.2 tons per acre for other tame hay; 2.0 tons per acre for wild hay and 3.3 tons per acre for greenfeed.

The majority of crop damage this past week is attributed to lack of moisture, strong wind and high temperatures. Some areas, including Cabri and Leader, received hail that caused severe damage to crops.