Harvest possible with snow, but not ideal: crop specialist

Snow means another obstacle for farmers trying to complete harvest.

“Mother Nature has thrown everything at producers this year including the kitchen sink,” said Cory Jacob, crop extension specialist with the Ministry of Agriculture.

In the latest crop report, the province said 83 per cent of the crop was in the bin, compared to the five-year average of 93 per cent.

Jacob hopes the weather will co-operate to allow for a late harvest in November.

“We’re optimistic that we’ll get some good weather in November-December where we can get more of that crop in,” Jacob said. “The worst-case scenario, or the alternative, is it gets harvested in the spring.”

Crops being harvested in the spring usually result in a lower-quality product, according to Jacob.

Farmers may be able to harvest what is under the snow, but Jacob says it’s not ideal.

“We can have some plugging issues,” he explained. “It’s not a good situation but they can still combine it. (It) just makes it a lot more difficult and time-consuming.”