With 59 per cent of the hay crop baled or put into silage, the Humboldt region has now taken the pole position in haying across Saskatchewan.

That comes from the weekly crop report put out every Thursday by Saskatchewan Agriculture.

Hay quality is rated at 92% good and 8% poor.

Some rain was reported in areas, but caused very little delay in progress for farmers. High humidity was the biggest reason behind some delays.

Topsoil moisture conditions are 27% surplus, 71% adequate and 2% short. Hay land and pasture topsoil moisture is sitting at 36% surplus and 64% adequate.

Crops remain in good condition for the most part with some damage from hail, lodging and disease.

It is expected that some harvesting will begin the first week of August due to warm, dry weather moving in.

Province-wide, 50% of hay is baled or put into silage and an additional 20% is ready to be baled. That is slightly behind the five-year average of 55%.

This year's pace is quite behind last year, when 67% of hay was baled and harvest was just getting underway.