Canadian Harvest Described As “Erratic”

The 2025 Canadian harvest season is showing mixed results and progressing at an erratic pace.  Severe drought has hit some regions hard, with some areas well ahead of the harvest schedule simply because the crop has run out of moisture.

Parts of Saskatchewan, along with central Canada, in the regions of southeastern Ontario and southwestern Quebec, were very dry this growing season.  And in Atlantic Canada, Prince Edward Island was severely affected by drought. Conversely, there are areas that had exceptionally good rainfall along with good weather conditions throughout the growing season.

John Kowalchuk farms in central Alberta and has recently completed his canola and cereal grains harvest.  Kowalchuk said the extremely warm weather this fall is causing some concern about hot-spots forming in storage bins, but he is pleased with this year’s crop.

“When we get lots of rain, I guess we can grow a crop in central Alberta," he said.  "This year it’s been really good. It was a good run; we had really good weather this year for harvest. It was nice and warm, and I was very happy with the results, especially the cereals. It made for a good harvest as far as getting the crop off, but maybe not so good at getting it in really good condition going into bins. We’re not used to that kind of heat during harvest. So, we’ve had warm grain going in, so you’ve really got to watch.”

Despite Late Season Rains, 2025 Wasn't Great

Moving east into Saskatchewan, the harvest picture is quite different.  Daryl Franshew farms wheat and canola in central Saskatchewan.  Franshew said some late-season rains helped his canola crop a bit, but overall, this has not been a great year.

“We were droughted out here. We were in the three-inch of rain category," Franshew said.  "The wheat was really poor. We did have some late rains that really helped canola fill. It was still mediocre, but, for the amount of rain we got, it definitely surprised us. Subsoil moisture really helped the canola going, and I think that’s where a lot of the yield came from. So, we’re going to try to catch as much snow as we can. But besides that, get ready for winter, I guess.”

Southern Ontario was a province of extremes this year. Much of central Ontario, and especially eastern Ontario, was hard hit by drought.  But in southwestern Ontario between Lake Erie and Lake Huron, Phillip Shaw, who farms near Dresden, expects to have an average to good crop.

“This part of the province, in the deep Southwest of Ontario, we’ve had normal precipitation all year. Where the harvest activity is drought-reduced, it’s come early," Shaw said.  "But down at this end of the province, it really hasn’t started yet. Soybeans are much better than my expectations. And corn, I’m sure it’ll average, in this area, over 200 bushels per acre, which is quite a bit different from the rest of Ontario, where they faced a lot of drought.”

Records Set in Eastern Canada, Impacting Growers

Prince Edward Island has experienced one of the hottest and driest growing seasons on record. Ryan Bennet on the southwestern shore of PEI.

“We just kept thinking, well, it’s got to rain sometime, and then it just never did. The majority of the island has been really dry for the entire summer," Bennet said.  "And, for most stuff, it’s too late. We’re going to see significant yield reductions on potatoes. Most of our grain corn, I imagine, will be down 20 to 25 percent. Probably won’t be harvesting it for another two or three weeks, anyway. Soybean yields, half a ton to the acre on soybeans, when they would usually get a ton and a quarter. So, there’s going to be some hurt around on crops this year.”

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