Favourable weather conditions have allowed producers to make significant seeding progress throughout Alberta, according to a provincial crop specialist.
“Depending on the region, seeding operations range anywhere from 30 per cent complete to as much as 85 per cent done,” said Neil Whatley of Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development’s Ag-Info Centre at Stettler.
The planting of various grains and oilseeds in the southern regions of the province was said to be 50-60 per cent complete with moisture conditions for the newly seeded crops very good, he said.
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In the central regions of Alberta, producers had also put about 50-60 per cent of their intended acreage into the ground, he said. The soil moisture situation in this area was also reported as good.
Seeding operations in the more northerly areas of Alberta were generally further along with less precipitation in the spring allowing producers more opportunity to work the fields, Whatley said.
“There were some isolated areas in the north where there was some heavy precipitation and where seeding was only 30 per cent done,” Whatley said. “However, other areas in the north were drier, and seeding in those regions were as much as 85 per cent complete.”
The combination of heavy snowfall during the winter and good spring rains has left the moisture situation in the province in good shape, he said.
Only the central areas of the Peace River district were on the drier side right now, but that region was expected to receive some timely rainfall in the next day or two, he said.
Canola and pulses were the crops producers in the province concentrated on putting into the ground first, with wheat and other cereals now becoming the main focus, Whatley said.
Flea beetles will be a concern for canola fields once they emerge, he said.
Winter wheat fields in Alberta have started to emerge and were seen as being in mostly good condition, he said.
