As of Oct. 13, combining in the North West Region is 85 per cent complete, behind the five-year average of 95 per cent.
That’s according to the latest crop report by the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) and the Government of Alberta.
Dry peas are virtually complete, while spring wheat is 91 per cent and barley is 89 per cent complete. Oats are 85 per cent combined, while canola is at 77 per cent.
Hay supply is rated as 87 per cent adequate and six per cent surplus, greenfeed is rated 91 per cent adequate and two per cent surplus, and silage is rated 82 per cent adequate and 12 per cent surplus.
Meantime, sub-surface soil moisture (five-year average) is rated as zero (22) per cent poor, 22 (32) per cent fair, 45 (38) per cent good, 27 (eight) per cent excellent and six (zero) per cent excessive.
The AFSC says producers worked hard this past week to get as much crop in the bin before rain and snow delayed harvest again in much of the province. While many areas reported that their snow quickly melted, their fields remained wet enough that harvest was delayed for multiple days. The northern parts of the province received over 50 mm of precipitation, including some areas which are already progressing slower than normal. Producers in the northern half of the province have reported that much of the crop left standing will require additional on-farm drying.
Provincial harvest progress is now 88 per cent complete, advancing 10 per cent since last week. Progress is behind the five-year average of 98 per cent, though recent years have had shorter harvest seasons due to ideal, dry harvest conditions that helped crops mature and kept producers in the field. This year’s progress is still ahead of the 10-year average of 85 per cent complete.
Regionally, the most advanced harvest is reported in the Central and South regions at 97 per cent and 96 per cent, respectively. The Peace Region has the slowest progress and is currently 74 per cent complete, the report notes.
Fall seeded crops are currently rated 72 per cent good-to-excellent provincially, above the five- and 10-year averages of 45 and 58 per cent. Fall seeded crops rated good-to-excellent, a rating which indicates 80-100 per cent of optimal stand is established, crop development is near normal or normal for this time of year and there are no visual signs of insect, environmental damage or inadequate fertility.
Regionally, the highest rated fall seeded crop (five-year average) is reported in the North West Region at 97 (49) per cent good-to-excellent, followed by the South Region at 83 (53) per cent, the Peace Region at 67 (the Peace Region doesn’t typically have fall seeded crop reported so there is no five-year average) per cent, the Central Region at 59 (42) per cent and the North East Region at 46 (36) per cent.
The majority of the province received precipitation near the end of last week, delaying combining. While some areas reported light skiffs of snow and one to two mm of rain, the report says the Peace Region and northern parts of the North West and North East regions reported from 20 to over 50 mm of precipitation. The Peace Region, specifically, reported heavy rainfall on Thursday and Friday followed by snow on Saturday.
Snowfall was variable around the rest of the province as many areas had minimum temperatures of -3 C to -9 C over the weekend. Many of those areas melted quickly as daytime temperatures turned positive early in the new week, but temperatures remained low enough to limit drying of grain in the field.
With regional fluctuations of less than five per cent, provincial surface and subsurface soil moisture remained stable and significantly above their historical averages. Surface soil moisture is currently rated 69 per cent good-to-excellent, above the five- and 10-year average of 31 and 51 per cent.
Regionally, the AFSC says surface soil moisture rated good-to-excellent (change from last week) is rated 73 (-4) per cent in the South Region, 53 (+1) per cent in the Central Region, 73 (+2) per cent in the North East Region, 69 (-5) per cent in the North West Region and 93 (+3) per cent in the Peace Region.
Sub-surface soil moisture is rated 64 per cent good-to-excellent, above its five- and 10-year average of 27 and 46 per cent. Regionally, subsurface soil moisture rated good-to-excellent (change from last week) is rated 52 (-3) per cent in the South Region, 55 (+1 per cent) in the Central Region, 74 (zero) in the North East Region, 72 (+3) per cent in the North West Region and 99 (+3) per cent in the Peace Region.
According to the report, provincial pasture conditions decreased two per cent over the last week and are now rated 48 per cent good-to-excellent, above the five- and 10-year averages of 22 and 33 per cent. Cold rain and snow in parts of the province prompted small decreases for the Central Region (down two per cent to 18 per cent good-to-excellent), the North East (down five per cent to 46 per cent good-to-excellent) and the North West (down seven per cent to 75 per cent good-to-excellent). The Peace Region remained stable at 48 per cent good-to-excellent and the South Region increased one per cent to 69 per cent good-to-excellent.
Many ranchers are starting to bring cattle home from summer pasture, the report notes.
Strong growing conditions for tame hay this season resulted in forage and feed reserves rating above average in the adequate and surplus categories, provincially. Forage reserves are rated two per cent deficit, six per cent shortfall, 75 per cent adequate and 16 per cent surplus, says the AFSC.
The largest percentage of deficit rated forage reserves was reported in the Peace Region with seven per cent. The North West Region had the highest amount of forage reserves rated adequate to surplus at 98 per cent, though the South, Central and North East are all rated above 90 per cent as well.
Provincial feed grain reserves are rated three per cent deficit, eight per cent shortfall, 77 per cent adequate and 13 per cent surplus. The largest percentage of deficit rated feed grain reserves is in the Peace Region at eight per cent while the highest rating of combined adequate and surplus ratings are reported in the Central (99 per cent) and the South (90 per cent).
The North West Region includes Barrhead, Drayton Valley, Edmonton, Leduc and Athabasca.
