Cool, wet weather has combined with late-seeded crops to cause “major” harvest delays in parts of Alberta, particularly the west-central, northwest and Peace River regions, the province reported Tuesday.
Alberta Agriculture and Food said in its crop report for the period ending Oct. 11 that the crop overall was estimated to be 85 per cent in the bin, up from 65 per cent two weeks earlier.
Oats and canola were farthest behind at 78 and 79 per cent complete provincewide, AAF reported. Canola acres in the Peace region were just 36 per cent harvested.
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In terms of yields, crops grown on dryland acres in the south were estimated below average; specialty crops under irrigation (potatoes, sugar beets) were expected to yield above average. Crops in the central region were expected to show both average yields and quality, while in the northeast, cereal yields were average and canola yields above average. In the northwest (around Edmonton and Barrhead), grades were reported to have deteriorated for grains combined in the previous two weeks, particularly for canola. Spring cereals and canola in the Peace were expected to grade below average but yield average to above-average.
Overall, hay yields were expected to be above average due to high yields from the first cut, with quality rated from fair to excellent. Conditions were rated as fair to poor on the majority of pastures in regions south of the Peace, where they ranked 50 per cent good and two per cent excellent.
