In the heat, crops develop quickly and haying operations can go ahead. But rainless, sun-baked weeks also dry out the topsoil.
For producers, the results on the ground have also been a mixed bag.
Fall cereals have particularly benefited from the past week’s conditions, and 90 per cent of the crop is developing on its normal schedule — a 10 per cent improvement over last week.
“Recent warmer weather has allowed for quicker crop development, with more crops moving closer to their normal stages of development as compared to previous weeks,” noted the provincial crop report.
Crop development: July 15, 2024
Haying operations have also gone ahead throughout Saskatchewan, with 26 per cent of the province’s first cut of hay now baled or silaged, and a further 32 per cent cut and waiting to cure.
But according to the crop report, with more hot weather in the forecast, farmers are now “hoping for moisture to help support crop development, reduce crop stress and sustain topsoil moisture conditions.”
Last week saw “a few isolated storms” drenching farms in the Macklin, Arborfield, Duck Lake and Choiceland areas, but those were exceptional events, as most of the province only received “trace amounts of moisture.”
That, in turn, is drying out the province’s topsoil.
Watch: How cropland topsoil moisture conditions have changed in 2024
Over this past week, farmers said 81 per cent of their cropland topsoil has adequate or surplus moisture, while 17 per cent is short or very short. The crop report says those numbers are similar for pasture and hayland topsoil as well, though both are a little bit drier than the cropland.
Unless the rainy conditions make a reappearance, “producers in some regions are not anticipating a second cut of hay this year,” the report said.
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