Harvest past the halfway mark for Lang-area farmer

With the weather holding out, many Saskatchewan farmers are nearing the halfway mark for getting their crops off the fields.

Jesse Ridgway, who farms near Lang, told the Greg Morgan Morning Show on Tuesday that things are progressing nicely.

“(We’re) not done yet,” Ridgway said. “We’re about 50 per cent done or so, maybe a little better. (There’s) still some rolling left to do.”

The weekly crop report issued by the Ministry of Agriculture on Thursday said harvest in Saskatchewan was 42 per cent complete.

“Some might be a little further along than that even, but everyone has got a good chunk done now,” Ridgway said.

While the nice weather helped some farmers get the crop in the bin quicker, many other regions were hit with hail. That wasn’t the case for Ridgway.

“We were very fortunate to miss hail,” she said. “We did get a lot of rain compared to normal — I mean, whatever normal is, I guess.

“(The) lentils suffered a little bit, but overall the crops are looking pretty good. I think everybody’s feeling pretty optimistic.”

With good working conditions, Ridgway said her family’s operation is a little bit ahead of schedule compared to other years and things have gone relatively smoothly.

“Well, there’s always hiccups — the machinery being finnicky here and there,” said Ridgway. “There has been a bit of that.

“But I always love harvest and everybody’s in full action. The roads are busy, the yards (and) the fields. It’s awesome to see everybody alive.”

The roads get even fuller a half hour before suppertime when Ridgway’s family meets the work crew out in the field for dinner.

“It’s nice to get the whole crew together, and our kids usually join us out in the field for supper,” Ridgway said. “It’s nice to have everybody together. It’s pretty special.”