Richmound in the southwestern corner of Saskatchewan received the most rain at 62 millimetres, while several other locations throughout the province had between 35 and 50 mm.

The ag department rated the province’s winter wheat at 55 per cent good to excellent and the fall rye at 66 per cent. For the spring cereals, the oats and spring wheat were pegged at 68 per cent good to excellent, with the barley at 65 per cent and the durum at 55 per cent.

Among Saskatchewan’s oilseeds, the soybeans rated 92 per cent good to excellent, followed by the flax at 75 per cent, the canola at 68 per cent and the mustard at 54 per cent.

For the pulses, field peas and lentils were placed at 75 per cent good to excellent and the chickpeas at 67 per cent.

In terms of soil moisture levels, the topsoil provincewide rated 65 per cent adequate, 28 per cent short and seven per cent very short. For hayland it was 55 per cent adequate, 36 per cent short and nine per cent very short. As for pastures, they were 55 per cent adequate, 32 per cent short and 13 per cent very short.

The report said the first cut of hay was winding up with 68 per cent either baled or for silage, rating at 64 per cent good to excellent. A second cut was deemed to be unlikely unless there was sufficient rainfall.

Heat, dryness, gophers, grasshoppers, flea beetles and aphids were among the sources of crop damage.

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“Precipitation this week has brought some relief to crop conditions in certain areas, though prolonged hot and dry weather continues to be a challenge to crops and pastures in other regions,” said the report issued on July 25.

Ratings by region were mixed over the week, with central Alberta up six points at 93 per cent G-E. The northwest rated 71 per cent G-E but was down 11 points. The south rose three points at 64 per cent G-E and the northeast slipped four points, also to 64 per cent. The Peace dropped further in losing six points at 22 per cent G-E.

By crop, Alberta’s barley fared the best at 67 per cent G-E, followed by the spring wheat and dry peas at 66 per cent, the canola at 63 per cent, the oats at 55 per cent and tame hay at 42 per cent.

With the rain, the province’s surface soil added four points to the surface soil moisture levels at 57 per cent G-E. With 88 per cent G-E and four per cent surplus, the central led the rest of Alberta by a wide margin. The south was next at 50 per cent G-E, then the northeast at 48 per cent, the northwest at 43 per cent, and the Peace was far back at only 22 per cent.

As for subsurface soil moisture levels, Alberta tacked on one point at 48 per cent G-E. The central was at 80 per cent G-E, the northeast at 41 per cent, the south and northwest at 35 per cent, and Peace at 27 per cent.

The week’s moisture bumped up pasture ratings by four points at 52 per cent G-E.

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During the week ended July 7, Saskatchewan received up to 44 millimeters of rain in the Hanley area, with Serath, Lampman and Semans getting 28 to 32 mm. However, limited rainfall in several other areas has led to declines in moisture ratings:

• Topsoil 55 per cent adequate, 33 per cent short and 12 per cent very short

• Hayland 43 per cent adequate, 38 per cent short and 19 per cent very short

• Pastures 33 per cent adequate, 40 per cent short and 27 per cent very short

The crop report said Saskatchewan’s winter cereals were nine per cent ripe, 47 per cent dough, 38 per cent heading and five per cent in the flag leaf and stem elongation. Of the spring cereals, four per cent were dough, 53 per cent were heading, 28 per cent at flag leaf and 15 per cent at stem elongation or tillering.

Of the oilseeds, the province’s flax was one per cent ripe, two per cent boll, 31 per cent flowering, 62 per cent stem elongation and four per cent seedling. The canola and mustard were at two per cent podded, 55 per cent flowering, 29 per cent bolting, 12 per cent rosette and one per cent seedling.

The pulses ranged from 11 per cent podded, 67 per cent flowering, 21 per cent vegetative and one per cent seedling.

Crop damage across the province ranged from a few instances of dry conditions, hot temperatures, wind, and hail. There were also areas where excessive rainfall prevented farmers from spraying fungicides. Also there were reports of insect and wildlife damage.

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The provincial agriculture department said crop ratings rose two points at 61 per cent good to excellent. Among the major crops the good to excellent totals were:

• Spring wheat up two points at 62 per cent

• Barley up two points at 63 per cent

• Oats up two points at 60 per cent

• Dry peas hold at 60 per cent

• Canola holds at 58 per cent

There’s a wide variation among Alberta’s regions, with northwest leading at 77 per cent good to excellent but the Peace is the worst off at a mere 23 per cent.

For crop development, the report said spring cereals are ahead in their growth with most in the booting stage. The cereals in the south were beginning to form heads.

Of the broadleaf crops, those flowering were:

• Lentils 58 per cent

• Dry peas 53 per cent

• Canola 42 per cent

• Mustard 42 per cent

• Chickpeas 35 per cent

Also, 48 per cent of Alberta canola was in the rosette stage and 43 per cent of the dry peas were in the seven-to-12 node stage.

Meanwhile the province’s soil rating lost eight points on the week at 57 per cent good to excellent. Tops in Alberta was the central region at 82 per cent and the Peace came in at 31 per cent.

The report said June rains helped soil moisture levels in the south, central and northwest regions, but below normal levels persist in the northeast and Peace as well as in some parts of the south.

Tame hay quality improved five points to 42 per cent good to excellent and the first cut is underway. Dryland hay quality rated 54 per cent good to excellent and that on irrigated land was 82 per cent. Alberta’s pastures are at 49 per cent good to excellent.

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Some much needed rain fell over parts of the province, with amounts varying widely from about one millimetre in several locales to as much as 65 mm in the Sprague area.

Manitoba’s spring wheat was rated at 90 per cent good to excellent, with the earliest seeded fields heading. The winter wheat and fall rye were in good shape as well with some fields starting to set seed. The corn ranged from V4 to V7.

Among the oilseeds, the canola ranged from early flowering in the early planted fields to later seeded crops in two to six leaf stages. The province’s flax was said to be 10 to 15 centimeters tall, and the sunflowers were in the V4 to V10 stages. Also the most advanced soybeans were at the sixth trifoliate.

The report said Manitoba’s field peas were primarily in the seventh to 12 node stages with the earliest seeded fields starting to flower.

As for the forages, corn for silage was growing well and haying was underway. Dairy farmers have largely completed their first cut while beef producers started to hay. The province’s alfalfa and clover have started to bloom and some grasses are heading out.

Pastures are largely stable, but there are instances of overgrazing.

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Progress in southern Alberta continued to be far ahead of the rest of the province at 76 per cent, up 30 points on the week. However, producers also made strong progress in the other regions:

• Central advanced 31 points at 51 per cent done

• Northeast also progressed 31 points at 37 per cent finished

• Northwest is up 21 points at 29 per cent complete

• Peace River pushed 17 points at 27 per cent seeded.

By crop, emergence

By crop, Alberta’s dry peas were furthest along at 74 per cent seeded, followed by the spring wheat at 66 per cent. Barley was next, near the halfway point with canola at 24 per cent finished and oats at 17 per cent.

The report cited overall emergence at 10 per cent, seven points more than the five-year average. By region that worked out to be 19 per cent in the central, 15 per cent in the south, five in the northwest, and three in the northeast and Peace.

Moisture levels

Surface soil moisture levels, from the ground to six inches down, rated 59 per cent good to excellent, virtually on par with the five-year average. Recent precipitation helped to improve some ratings, but there were declines in others:

• Central up 20 points at 85 per cent G-E

• Peace down 11 points at 56 per cent G-E

• South dipped two points at 50 per cent G-E

• Northeast climbed 13 points at 45 per cent G-E

• Northwest held at 41 per cent G-E

Of note, no part of Alberta had any excessive surface soil moisture levels.

The report placed pasture growth conditions at 59 per cent good to excellent provincewide, 11 points above the five-year average. Alberta’s tame hay also came in at 59 per cent good to excellent, 15 points ahead of average.

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Manitoba Agriculture said about half of the spring wheat in the central and Interlake regions has been seeded. As well as corn, barley and oats were going into the ground along with canola, sunflowers, soybeans and field peas.

Survival rates for fall rye and winter wheat look good so far, with up to 90 per cent of both crops in the central region. Most of those winter crops have been fertilized. Also, numerous hay fields have been fertilized while current supplies remain adequate.

Overall, planting progress advanced five points on the week. The current pace is twice that this time last year and two points ahead of the five-year average.

Fields throughout most of Manitoba have dried out and can support farm machinery.

An overhanging factor is continuing good soil moisture. The report said the most precipitation was nearly 13 millimetres in the Virden area, with Gardenton in eastern Manitoba next at five. Most regions are well below their precipitation levels, except for the southeast with more than 100 per cent compared to its 30-year average.

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As farmers we do dangerous things every day. Every day we are just going to go swath the wheat, or we are just going to combine, or we are just going to bale the straw. We are always just going to do something. We get into the habit of just going to do our work and we take everything for granted. Sometimes we need a gentle reminder that what we do has the potential to be dangerous — but perhaps even more importantly we need the reminder that we truly are blessed.

That last statement may seem strange, but hear me out. That morning Gregory got the tractor and baler ready for me while I got the kids ready to go to Grandma’s house. As we passed each other, Gregory reminded me that in case of a fire to head for the summerfallow, dump the bale and try to put out the fire. If all fails, pull the pin on the hitch and drive away to save the tractor at least. Gregory was headed out to swath John’s wheat on one of the fields farthest from home. John was swathing his barley just south of the wheat field I was to go bale. Why did Gregory feel the need to remind me? I’ve been baling for some time now and while I do not claim to be any expert, it is a fairly comfortable job for me to do.

When I first saw the flames on the baler, I was scared, but I had the list of what to do fresh in my mind and I didn’t hesitate. I drove the tractor and baler into the summerfallow field and dumped the bale. The fire was progressing much too quickly, so I decided to unpin the baler. The pin wouldn’t move. I got back in the tractor and backed up a bit to get the pin to unbind. The belts were on fire at this point. I tried the pin again, finally it came loose, and I drove the tractor away. The flames were two feet higher than the baler at this point. There was no saving the baler. I checked to make sure the bale was far enough away from the field and thanked God that the wind was blowing away from the stubble field.

READ MORE: Timely maintenance can prevent round baler fires

I radioed Barb and told her I had a fire. She went for John and I went for a truck to go get Gregory. As we raced back home, Gregory was giving me more instructions in case it did get into the stubble field. As we neared, we noticed the neighbours with their water trucks. They got the fire out on the baler, then Gregory pushed the bale around with the tractor and they got the fire out there as well.

The boys cried, especially James, to see the baler in flames. To James it was like losing a good friend. Was there something different or more I could have done? Probably. Was it a big loss that will take some time to recover from? Yes. But we are going to use this opportunity to count our blessings. Thanks be to God that Gregory listened to that little voice that told him to refresh my memory on what to do in case of a fire. I would have taken it to the stubble field, but would I have remembered I could pull the pin on the baler and drive away? Or would I have tried to undo the PTO and taken too long and lost the tractor or gotten burned in the process? Gregory and John pointed out to me the melted slow-moving sign on the back of the tractor the next day. I thought it was a little hot in there! They figured there must have been a hydraulic oil leak to make the fire burn that hot and progress that fast.

READ MORE: Make hay while the sun shines — but do it safely

Thanks be to God that we have summerfallow and I was baling on the south side of the field nearest to it. Thanks be to God that the wind was blowing away from the stubble field. Thanks be to God that we have neighbours who came on the run as soon as they saw smoke.

Experiences like this should remind us to count our blessings first. No one got hurt. The tractor was saved. Not one acre was burned. No homes or yards were lost. All we lost that day was the baler. After we count our blessings, we realize how bad things could have been and how blessed we truly are.

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The southwest region nearly finished its combining at 96 per cent complete. Meanwhile, the southeast region was at 83 per cent, the east-central region was at 75 per cent, the west-central region was at 70 per cent and both the northeast and northwest regions were at 65 per cent.

Field peas, triticale and winter wheat have seen their harvests completed, with fall rye and lentils nearby at 99 per cent. The durum harvest was at 95 per cent complete, followed by mustard and chickpeas at 93 per cent, barley at 91 per cent, spring wheat at 85 per cent, oats at 75 per cent, canary seed at 68 per cent, canola at 56 per cent, flax at 42 per cent and soybeans at 31 per cent.

The precipitation helped areas lacking in topsoil moisture and greened up pastures for fall grazing, but it has also concerned growers with possible reductions in crop quality.

Cropland topsoil moisture was rated at 64 per cent adequate, 32 per cent short and four per cent very short. Hayland was rated at 60 per cent adequate, 33 per cent short and seven per cent very short. Pasture topsoil moisture was rated at 53 per cent adequate, 37 per cent short and 10 per cent very short.

In total, 59 per cent of producers said there were or there will be no water shortages on their properties, with another 31 per cent saying they had moderate shortages. In addition, 85 per cent said there will be no concerns over water quality for their livestock.

Wind, wildlife and waterfowl were the major contributors to crop damage during the week. Winter cereal seeding operations also commenced in some areas.

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Karsin is one of the principals of Karsin Farms Simmentals at Newton, about 20 km southeast of Portage la Prairie, Man. He says they have been able to save at least one large round bale per head over the winter. The farm runs about 40 head of purebred red and black Simmentals.

“And when hay is in that $100 to $150 per bale range, that can add up,” says Jonathan, who farms with his parents David and Pauline.

The Karsins, who have been farming for about 15 years, first used round bale feeders. “The cattle would pull a lot of hay out of the feeder, then they would lay on it, and with manure on top a lot of it would be wasted,” says Karsin. 

“We liked the features of Hustler bale unroller and switched to it a few years ago. It is a much more efficient way to feed hay and is also very versatile.” They’ve used the bale processor to spread straw and for feeding corn silage.

Their Hustler LX105 single bale unroller mounts on the front of their Kubota track loader. It’s powered by hydraulics, so a high-horsepower tractor isn’t needed to operate it.

New Zealand imports

The chainless bale processor was first developed at Hustler Equipment headquarters in New Zealand about 30 years ago, says Lance Paskewitz, business development manager for Hustler North American operations, based in Minnesota. “But it began to trickle into North America about a dozen years ago.” 

He says the machines now have wide distribution across Canada and the U.S. as well as other parts of the world.

With a wide range of models and capacity — from single to double bale feeders and large-capacity units that can carry six to eight bales at once — Paskewitz says there are models that work well from the smallest to the largest feeding operation.

He says the relatively gentle handling of forage one of the key design features that appeals to many producers. 

“Producers work all summer to produce good-quality hay. Many are paying attention to proper timing and dew point levels to ensure that hay as much leafy green material as possible. And then if that hay is put through a flail-type bale processor, all that management effort may be lost as the chains knock the leaves off the stem.”

Paskewitz says the processor may be as close as possible to unrolling or “to using a pitch fork,” as its rollers pull the bale apart. 

“Once the bale is loaded into the machine, it rests up against two variable-speed rollers. For every turn the bottom roller makes, the top roller goes around three times. That top roller sort of fluffs the hay as it is dropped on the ground in a narrow windrow or into a feed bunk.”

That was the feature that really appealed to Karsin Farms — the bale is pulled apart and dropped in a narrow windrow. “With that narrow feed row the cattle are less likely to use it for bedding,” says Karsin. “And with more leaves on the hay they are getting greater feed value.”

Benefits

Karsin says he’s found several benefits: 

• They went from feeding more than eight bales per animal per year to about 7-7.1, an appreciable 12 per cent savings or more. 
• The cattle don’t trample or lay in the hay, as the windrow is not large enough to be appealing. 
• All the animals have easy access to the feed.
• The soil is not compacted, as you can choose to feed in a new place every day. 
• Manure is spread over alarge area.
• The fluffed hay is more palatable and easier to eat for the young calves and the older animals you’ve decided not to cull yet . 

“We all work off farm, but we are also all involved with the cattle and farming when we are home,” says Karsin. “One of the other nice features of the Hustler bale processor is that it is easy to use. My mom often has to look after the feeding if dad and I are both away at the same time. She is not necessarily a mechanical person, but it is very easy to load the hay and attach the processor to the track loader on her own.” 

Karsin says they have found the processor requires very little maintenance other than keeping it greased. 

Less waste

The value of more gentle handling of hay to protect feed value is supported by a University of Alberta research project conducted several years ago. It compared the winter feed waste of cows fed forage on snow using a three-point bale unroller versus a flail-type bale processor (these use knives or flails to crush and chop the hay). The results showed that waste was significantly higher with the flail-type bale processor (12.9 per cent versus 19.2 per cent with the flail-type processor). 

Also, 21.5 per cent of the total protein was found in the wasted feed delivered by the flail-type bale processor. To replace the lost protein, an additional 2.55 kg/5.61 lb of DM or 3.04 kg/6.69 lb of hay as fed per head per day is required, which increases feed costs by $0.60/h/d based on a hay cost of $0.09/lb. (Hay prices have been updated to reflect the current 2023 estimate).

In total, the use of a flail-type bale processor increased winter feeding costs by $4.05 per head for a 175-day feeding period compared to a bale unroller when including wastage, nutrient replacement and additional equipment costs (including feed delivery costs, time of travel to and from the feeding area, processing time and total equipment time to feed the animals). 

For instance, the study found that the total cost to operate the tractor and bale shredder machinery for 175 days was $15,973.24 or $91.27 per day or $0.91/h/d. The investment cost for flail-type bale processors is also more expensive than investing in an unroller or a processor such as the Hustler Chainless bale feeder. For more information on the Hustler Equipment line and their Canadian dealers, visit their website at: hustlerequipment.com/ca.

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