Snow this last week has put a halt to harvest in the southeast.

Marc Hutlet of Marc Hutlet Seeds at Ste. Anne says the corn harvest is about 75 to 80 per cent complete in this part of the province. In addition to that, there are still some sunflower fields to be harvested and even a handful of soybean fields. 

Hutlet says progress was going well until last week's snow, which saw harvest come to a standstill. However, he notes once the plants shake off the snow and the temperatures reach a point where the seeds will not freeze in the combine, producers will be ready to go again. 

"There's no loss in quality and really no loss of yield," says Hutlet. "It's just a patience game right now."

He notes it is quite possible that within the next three to four days the harvest will resume. 

Speaking of yields, Hutlet says it has definitely been a tale of two sides of the river this year. He notes there have been excellent yields east of the Red River, where producers were able to capture some rain. Hutlet says some of the corn wagons they have been weighing have been hitting 200 bushels per acre. He adds many fields have been in the 160 to 180 range.

As for sunflowers, Hutlet says he has been hearing of some very good yields of between 3,000 and 3,400 pounds per acre. Hutlet says the price of sunflowers has dropped dramatically and so anyone who locked in last year was brilliant. 

And with soybeans, Hutlet says this was an excellent crop in the southeast. He notes they weighed about 20 soybean trials, with many fields bringing in 50 to 60 bushels per acre. 

Even with the weather delay, Hutlet says the corn harvest is probably still ahead of schedule. He notes this certainly is not the first time there has been standing corn after Halloween. As for the other crops that have not been harvested, he says that is a little more surprising. 

Meanwhile, Hutlet says all of the snow certainly bodes well for next growing season. He notes a lot of fieldwork was already wrapped up prior to the snow, including the application of anhydrous ammonia. 

 

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