(Resource News International) — Favourable weather conditions during
the past week allowed producers in Alberta to make good harvest
progress, according to a crop specialist with the province’s Ag-Info Centre.
“Provincially, the harvest in Alberta is roughly 85 to 90 per cent complete, with only the central region of the province having any
significant crops left to combine,” said Harry Brook, a crop
specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development at Stettler, on Tuesday.
Harvest operations in the central region were estimated by
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in the Peace, southern Alberta, east-central and north-central
districts were all in the 90 to 95 per cent complete range.
Brook said harvest operations in the province will be
delayed a few days by wet and cool conditions which have moved
into the area.
Crops left to be harvested include some canola,
some wheat, and some barley. All of the pea crops in the province
have been harvested, he said.
“Most of the canola harvested to date is expected to grade
as No. 1 Canada, with the quality and yields coming in above
average,” Brook said.
A lot of the wheat harvested was also expected to fall into
the top two grades.
“There also shouldn’t be any shortages of malting-quality
barley,” Brook said, noting that quality and yields in some
locations were much better than expected. “Producers in some
localized areas of Alberta were talking about barley yields in
the 100- to 110-bushel an acre range, which would be tremendous.”
Pastures in the province remain in
poor shape, Brook said. Hay was expected to be in short
supply this winter as well, with producers only able to take one cut.
Brook noted fall field work is underway throughout the
province, with producers taking advantage of the weather to control weeds and apply fall fertilizers.
Winter wheat area in Alberta was also seen declining
significantly from the year-ago level given the lateness of the
harvest, Brook said.
