Farmers in southeast Saskatchewan made significant progress in the 2005 harvest in the past week, with good weather helping producers get out in the fields.

The southeast is now almost dead-even with the southwest in harvest progress at 80 per cent complete, to 81 in the southwest, and a further 14 per cent lying in swath or ready to be straight-combined.

The province, meanwhile, only has 53 per cent of the harvest done, up from 37 per cent last week, with the northwest area the furthest behind at only 20 per cent in the bin.

In the southeast, some wind damage was reported in the Weyburn area crop district (No. 2) and the area immediately south, district 3ASE, along with some frost damage in district 2B, which encompasses Weyburn and area north. Some crop damages in 2B were also reported caused by aphids, migratory birds and mice.

Of the crops combined, over 90 per cent of winter wheat, fall rye, barley, mustard, lentil and pea crops are combined, and one week of good harvest weather should see most harvesting completed in the southeast area, with some farmers needing another two or three weeks.

Pasture conditions have improved since the end of August, with 55 per cent of crop reporters rating pastures as good to excellent, up from 47 per cent, while eight per cent of reporters said pasture conditions were poor.

Most pasture areas reported good water supplies, except in 3ASE, which encompasses the RMs of The Gap, Laurier, Surprise Valley, Lake Alma and Souris Valley, where sloughs and dugouts are reported to be getting low.

Besides swathing and combing, farmers are also applying fall herbicides, baling straw and burning flax straw.