A happy harvest after all, for many Saskatchewan farmers

Five weeks ago, things looked pretty grim for farmers like John and Rhonda Kotylak.

Heavy rain and snow had hit large swaths of Saskatchewan, bringing the harvest to a standstill.

At their Balcarres-area farm, hundreds of acres of canola were waiting to be combined, but it was too muddy to get machines in the field.

"A third not finished,"Rhonda said.

"That's when we were saying, 'Oh my God.'"

But then the clouds parted and several weeks of unseasonably warm, relatively dry weather rolled in.

Regina-area farmer Todd Copeland finishes harvesting

8 years ago

Duration 1:24

Rain and snow in October has given way to fine harvest conditions in November, Mickie Cowan reports.

Last week, for example, warm weather records were shattered all over the province.

John worked from dawn into well into the night, and on Saturday, he took off the last of his canola.

"Yes, it's finallyover!" he said on his Facebook page. "Harvest '16 is in the books! Aug. 12 started peas to Nov. 12 last canola field!I need a drink! Cheers to all!"

Only 82% of harvest completed by lateOctober

It's a scene that's been occurring around the province lately, according the Shannon Friesen, a crop specialist with the provincial Ministry of Agriculture.

On Oct. 24, only 82 per cent of the crop was in the bin, whereas typically at that time of year it was 99 per cent.

If winter had hit in full force, it would have meant waiting until spring to get the last of the crop in. By then, the quality would have deteriorated to feed grade, or worse.

The last two or three weeks, there has been very optimal weather,Friesensaid. "In many cases, [farmers have] actually been able to finish."- Crop specialistShannon Friesen

Fortunately, to the relief of thousands of farmers, winter hit the pause button.

"The last two or three weeks, there has been very optimal weather," Friesen said. "In many cases, [farmers have] actually been able to finish."

The north-east part of the grainbelt is still quite damp, but there has been considerable catchup in the south and west, she said.

An update on the harvest is expected next week, and it could show more than 90 per cent of the crop is now in the bin.
"We're very hopeful," Friesen said.