Harvest challenges abound following a wet first half of September.
Some regions have had more rain than others, while those on the heavier soils are having a more difficult time navigating from one point to another on dirt or even gravel roads.
Stuart Lawrence, a farmer in the Rosetown area and Chair of Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, said while he's been fortunate to get less than than other areas of the province, he knows other farmers are having a harder time battling the elements.
"On social media, I've seen, lots of stuck equipment photos and I've already seen one tractor with broken glass because of a broken strap," he said. "I hope that farmers take some time, slow down, don't get in a rush when equipment gets stuck, and I hope everyone's safe."
Rob Stone farms in in the Davidson area and is also the Vice-Chair of the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission (SaskWheat). He said there is concern over whether trucks would be able to get in and out of the field and leave ruts behind.
Stone also got supplies in case his equipment gets stuck.
"I was just at our dealer this morning looking at getting some slings and things for the combine so we can safely extract from areas where they maybe shouldn't have been and thinking about those things, which we haven't had to think about in harvest for quite a few years." he said.
Gordon Moellenbeck, who farms in the Englefeld area, said producers might haul "three quarters of a load instead of a full load just to try to save the roads and their own driveways."
"Unless we get some nice sunshine and wind to kind of dry that off…that's going to be another concern." Moellenbeck added.
Farmers across the province assessed fields following a Labour Day long weekend that had large volumes of rain with some anecdotal reports of seven to eight inches of rain recorded so far this month.
Stone estimated six inches of rain in total since August 30.
"Every other day, it seemed like we were getting it and thinking to ourselves, well, you know, if it stops now, the wheat's going to keep standing good and it won't get too wet out there, but its edging up on a number now that's a pretty remarkable number really for us." Stone said, adding he head the Broadview area had between six and seven inches of precipitation.
Prud'homme area farmer Mark Bilinski said the rain gauge recorded approximately five and one-quarter inches from the long weekend.
"We were able to get a bunch of our barley off beforehand, so we were pretty fortunate that way, but everybody's looking forward to get back into the field.” Bilinski said.
Moellenbeck said they've received roughly six inches of rain in the past two weeks along with two and three-quarter inches from the long weekend.
Moellenbeck said crops are deteriorating from all the moisture, particularly barley.
"It's not the worst barley I've ever had, but you can tell that the weathering is starting," he said.
In the Rosetown area, Lawrence said "the majority of the peas and lentils were off in August before the September rain started" but noticed " a couple of fields of lentils still out" and believes they could be downgraded in quality as a result.
Lawrence adds 2026 has been a difficult year for root rot, particularly aphanomyces. He keeps track of years with bad root rot.
"This year I did my best. I put lentils on a field that had not had a pulse since 2019 and prior to that, 2014. So, this was its third lentil crop in 13 years and I had probably 40% mortality on that field. So, I think it's just safe to say a lot of fields are infected and, you know, seven years, if you get the right June, is just not enough time for the spores to go away." he said.
Bilinski said the crop still in the field is hanging in there quality-wise.
"I think everything we have as far as we're concerned is hanging in there and crops were, we're very impressed with everything thus far, you know, I mean, they could deteriorate going forward, but we're hoping for the best.” he said.
In the Davidson area, Stone said his wheat crop is "not standing pencil straight, but it's not pasted to the ground" and believes his lentils are "going to be pretty flat and it's going to be pretty muddy underneath."
As for canola, Stone said he will be choosing his spots.
"With the canola price and some decent looking canola crops around, there's a lot of potential out there and it's certainly nice to have that in your hand rather than in the bush," Stone said.
Grain drying will likely be a common activity once crops are off the field and Stone is glad he has one.
"It's one of those things that you're glad to have it sitting there and hope to never use it, and this year is one of those years where people are set up to be able to handle some of those things, it's going to pay off well, at least to getting started back up." he said.
Stone is contemplating the level of moisture that would be good enough to harvest and put through the grain dryer.
"I think that'll be a moving target, but we're just kind of thinking if we can start with 20 or 21 moisture a week going through the dryer, and then if we can start bagging at 17, 18 kind of thing and have it sort of getting better than that, there's some opportunity to maybe blend out to dry and run some through the dryer. But you make the game time decision once you get there too, but you just kind of toss those numbers around and try and figure out what that'll be."
Every producer who is facing similar challenges would likely agree what is needed right now is warm and dry weather.
And producers like Moellenbeck are trying to stay optimistic, recalling the harvest of 2016 which started out rough but combining still wrapped up in late October.
Stone is hoping for an open fall to finish up harvest.
"It is early yet and there's a lot of fall ahead of us. That's about all a person can do is just do what you can every day.”
Bilinski said they're "looking forward to some sunnier weather and putting the hired men to work in some late nights."
(With files from Neil Billinger, CJWW and Alice McFarlane, Pattison Media)
