Harvest progress is racing ahead in Alberta with about 90 per cent of crops in the bin, the weekly crop report from Alberta Agriculture and Forestry on Oct. 9, says. This makes the highest percentage complete for the first month of October in more than a decade.
Precipitation across the province has been lower than usual since the start of September. This, combined with warmer then average temperatures, has allowed producers to make significant harvest progress by the first week of October, the report notes.
Provincial dry-land yields are now estimated at 53.9 bushels per acre for spring wheat, 74.1 bushels per acre for barley, 83.9 bushels per acre for oats, 40.3 bushels per acre for canola and 42.3 bushels per acre for dry peas.
On average for the province, grades on the harvested portion of major crops are rated at high quality, while regional grading is variable across the province. Crop quality in the North West Region as well as in some areas of the north east and Peace regions has been impacted by the wet spring and summer, the report says.
