Rains delay the harvest. Does this already affect the quality of crops?

Deszcze opóźniają zbiory. Czy wpływa to już na jakość plonów?

Small rains will not help corn and root crops, but they will interfere with the harvest

In the south-western regions of Poland, almost all rapeseed plantations are ready for harvest. Rapeseed is either ready or on its last legs in the eastern and northern parts of the country. It is true that some of the plantations have already been harvested, but these are only preliminary runs, with only a few percent of rapeseed harvested from half of them. Most of the plantations can already be mowed, but the work is still suspended due to rain.

And the rains that are coming, well… These are the kind of rains that won't help corn, sugar beets or potatoes, but they're enough to stop the harvest. This is about to change because more rainfall is forecast for Sunday in the western regions. Anyway, this week it happened that as soon as the plants dried, another drizzle came and stopped the work.

Rapeseed can also grow

In the case of rapeseed, frequent rains, alternating with intense sunlight, increase the risk of the pods opening and, consequently, falling off. At the moment, however, this is not a very dangerous phenomenon. However, in just a few days we may be in a completely different place, because the further course of such weather will be dangerous for those plantations that were ready for harvesting at the earliest. Let's remember here that rapeseed can also grow, and this phenomenon is favored by high humidity for a long time.

Cereals are still safe, but if rainfall is frequent, there are some risks

Rains are not yet a threat to cereals, except for the earliest varieties of wheat and barley. The situation here is similar to that of rapeseed – continued capricious weather will lead to an increased risk of quality deterioration, and heavy rainfall in the case of early wheat varieties that are already ready for harvesting may reduce the chance of obtaining consumer quality grains. There is no risk of sprouting yet, especially since most conventional grains are not yet fully ripe.

So, at the moment, the rains do not have a significant impact on the quality of the grain or seeds obtained. This may change very quickly, however. The weather forecast for next week predicts rainfall – every day from Wednesday in some regions. Such an aura will be dangerous for the quality of those plantations that matured the earliest. It's true that it's only the beginning of July, but winter crops are ready for harvesting sooner and we need to make allowances for that. Last season, the rains came in full harvest. At the moment, we have pre-seasons, although the persistent capricious weather may soon become a problem for both rapeseed and cereals – both due to sprouting, quality reduction, and in the case of rapeseed, shedding. Rain is needed and much needed, but rainfall of 1-2 mm is so small that it will not help the corn and will harm the harvest.