Crop Report - August 31, 2025

August 31, 2025
Crop Report

Crop conditions and weather

The past few weeks of August have finally felt like summer, but the intense heat has quickly brought the look of autumn across the landscape - the trees are yellowing, the grass browning and crunchy underfoot. The steady heat has accelerated crop development and the cereal crops and canola are at or nearing maturity. The rain that came later in the summer has been a case of ‘too little too late’, and while the later moisture can help fill the kernels and seeds, it unfortunately arrived too late to increase grain yield. The current dry conditions help to preserve the quality of the grain and make for a speedier and less stressful harvest for the farmers. At this point, hitting the pause button on the rainfall until after harvest would be ideal for the grain farmers, and then a good soaker in the fall to recharge the soil would be very welcome. Although, for the forage and pastures, the rain could come at any time.

What's going on in the field


Harvest is in full swing. Canola and malt barley are being swathed. Wheat has been sprayed to accelerate the dry-down of greener plant material and early-seeded wheat, especially that on sandier (‘lighter’) land, is being combined. Lots of equipment is on the move - please be extra patient and cautious on the roads!

Canola being swathed

Harvest was underway on a windy day in August on Mistawasis. Source: Jennifer Bogdan

Farmer’s Focus: Insights for the Weeks Ahead


The focus right now is getting the crops swathed and the grain combined and in the bin. Some grain coming off early may need to be run through a dryer in order to bring the moisture content of the seed down to a level that is safe for long-term storage in the bin. For example, wheat that is being combined at higher moisture (16-20%) will need to be dried down to around 13-14% moisture before it can be stored, or spoilage can occur. Losing a bin to heated grain is a massive financial hit for a farmer, especially with the size of grain bins today. As the wheat will be transported from the farm to the elevator, loaded onto a train, taken to the port, and then finally loaded onto a ship destined to an end-use country, making sure the grain is “dry” becomes very important. Grain elevators take samples of every load coming into the elevator where they test the moisture, temperature, and other grading parameters such as protein content, dockage, sprouting, and green seeds, depending on the crop. Grain that arrives “tough” (slightly higher than ideal moisture) or “damp” (much higher than ideal moisture) will be dried at the elevator before being binned with the dry grain in order to prevent spoilage of their very large bins. So far, the harvest weather has been cooperative and very little or no drying will be needed, unless September turns cool and rainy.

Author

Jennifer Bogdan

Agronomist

Bridge to Land Water Sky Living Lab