2017 started out with lots of moisture and early spring, which allowed some producers the opportunity to get out and wrap up the harvest from last year.

Shannon Friesen is the Acting Crop Management Specialist with Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Agriculture.

She says as we moved through the growing season the tap seemed to shut off but despite that most areas took off a pretty decent crop:

"Quality, for the most part, some of the best we have seen in a very long time," she said. "When we talk about yields for the most part provincially again on average."

She notes producers especially in the south were pleased with this year’s crop given the lack of rain through the growing season:

"Canola provincially we were only at about 34 bushels per acre," she said. "The ten-year average is 31, but when we keep in mind what we got in the south which was anywhere between 25 to 29 bushels per acre on average. That was well exceeded in the north, with close to 40 bushels. When we move to hard red spring wheat, the provincial average was about 43 bushels, in the southwest, we did see a low of about 33 bushels."

Producers in the South, of course, are hoping for more snow and some early Spring rains to try and replenish the subsoil moisture after last year’s dry conditions.

She adds for Lentils the ten-year Provincial average is just under 1300 pounds, and this year we averaged 1400 pounds, but in the South, the yield was well below that.