Ryan Braun provides this season’s final Harvest Report. He is the Case IH Combine Product Specialist for Alberta and western Saskatchewan in Canada. Look for our summary of the Harvest Reports next week, and tell us how the harvest progressed in your area.
Ryan Braun, Case IH Combine Product Specialist
We wrapped up harvest about a month ago, and unlike much of the United States this year, our crops didn’t suffer from drought conditions. The rains were timely and it was a “typical” growing season, for the most part. Our primary crops are wheat and canola, followed by barley, oats and peas. Some corn is planted in the southern part of the province, but very few soybeans are grown in this area.
Producers all across western Canada reported having a very good-quality wheat crop, unless it was hit by hail. Out west, we have a lot of hailed-out areas, which is fairly typical. When you’re 60 miles from the Rocky Mountains you’re going to get hail, and it has an impact on our wheat and canola yields.
We had some extremely hot weather when the canola heads were filling out. In fact, there were several days when the temperature pushed well above 30 C (35 C is equivalent to 95 F). It stressed the pods on top of the plants and brought the yields down. Although we didn’t have drought conditions, we could have used more rain during the heat wave.
Overall, in areas that didn’t have hail, producers had a normal to above average crop. In Manitoba, where it was much hotter, yields were low to average. Early on, it looked like crop was really going to pay off, but farmers aren’t complaining, because their yields were better than those of many U.S. farmers and prices are good.
Case IH Advantages Evident
One of the biggest advantages I heard from Case IH customers this fall was related to our draper heads. Especially in areas that were hit by hail, our draper heads were able to pick up the grain, so even though it was flat on the ground, farmers were able to harvest it. Case IH draper heads are designed to match crop types, yields and Axial-Flow® combine capacities. The combination of a wide range of cutting widths, matched draper delivery openings and variable draper speeds provides uniform crop flow into the combine for unmatched harvest performance.
Customers also mentioned the huge advantage they had with the cleaning system in the Case IH Axial-Flow combines. Hailed-out canola tends to be very dry and can overload an average cleaning system, but our customers were able to handle those situations more effectively.
Editor’s Note: Ryan Braun has been with Case IH for three years. He attended the University of Manitoba and grew up on a farm just west of Winnipeg. When asked if his family used Case IH equipment when he was growing up, he said, “No, but it takes everybody a little time to see the light!”
