You won't hear to many farmers complaining about having to park their trucks and combines this week.  Not only was the rain needed across much of the region, it also allowed for other fall work to get done after a very long stretch of good harvest weather.

Thanksgiving is often the moving target for the completion of harvest in southern Saskatchewan and Crop Specialist Shannon Friesen says the southwest region is now reporting 98% of their harvest done and 92% for the southeast.  Had it not been for the rain, she says many producers would be done, although there are a few crops that are a little behind with maturity.

"Most of the crops that are vulnerable to late season rains have already come off already. Around the Moose Jaw area we are waiting on crops like flax and soya beans that can actually take some falls rains as well as some snow."

While some areas received over 30mm of rain to start the week, Friesen says that's not nearly enough to replenish the soil after the hot dry summer we experienced this year.  Producers are hoping for either a good dump of fall rain or a heavy, wet snow this winter.