Harvest 72% done, but rain a worry in Sask.

After a slow start, Saskatchewan's2009 harvest has caught up with the five-year average, with 72 per cent of the crop in the bin, the government says.

However, concerns are being raised about the recent wet weather affecting wheat, canola and other crops.

Warm, dry conditions last week were big factors allowing farmers to get more of the annual job done. Theweek before, only 50 per cent of the crop was in the bin, the Agriculture Ministry said Thursday.

The five-year averagefor this time of year is 68 per cent harvested.

Prospects for the week beginning Wednesday are not as sunny, however.

Rain has already slowed harvest in some areas of the province and there was more heavy rainover the last few days.

Dry weather needed

Farmers in the northern regionswill need decent and dry weather in the next two weeks to get mostof the crop into the bin, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, NDP leader and agriculture critic Dwain Lingenfelter said the wet harvest is a serious problem and he wants to see action from Premier Brad Wall's Saskatchewan Party government.

In particular, because so many farmers are now being forced to use grain dryers, the government should speed up a proposed natural gas rate cut, Lingenfelter said in arelease.

SaskEnergy has applied to reduce natural gas rates by about 12 per cent, beginning Nov. 1.

Lingenfelter said it's not fair that the decrease kicks in after the harvest season is over, and after some farmers have spent thousands of dollars drying their grain.

Instead,the cutshould be made retroactive to Sept. 1, he said.

Wet conditions are widespread, but noteverywhere in Saskatchewan. Soil moisture has been assessed as "short" or "very short" on 38 per cent of the crop land.