Harvest is progressing across Alberta with crops being reported as having high average yields with above average growing conditions, the Aug. 23 provincial crop report said. There have been reports of rapidly decreasing soil moisture levels throughout the month of August though.
Eight per cent of the provincial crop has been combined, with four per cent swathed and 88 per cent of Alberta’s crop still standing which is slightly more than the five year average of 86 per cent.
“Despite the south region completing seeding much earlier than normal this spring, combining is not starting with that same relatively early timeframe,” the report said.
The report noted growing conditions and dry land yield expectations both tell an optimistic story for harvest results. A yield index of 112 is expected across the province compared to the five-year average benchmark. Spring cereal and pulse yield expectations are all well above long-term averages. Oilseeds are also expected to yield above long-term normal, but at a much smaller margin. The Peace area has the highest yield index expectation, while the northwest is only area expected to yield below the 10-year average.
“Irrigated crop expectations are very consistent with long term averages, with the exception of lentils and chickpeas being well below normal expectations and flax being well above normal expectations.”
Sixty-nine per cent of all crops are rated as good or excellent growing conditions across the province, the report said. This is still ahead of five and 10-year averages, but down from 75 per cent just over a month ago on July 12. Potatoes, sugar beets and dry beans have a much higher percentage of the crop rated as poor relative to their respective normals, whereas spring cereals are now heavier weighted as excellent rating relative to normal, the report noted.
There has been some grasshopper and flea beetle pressure on crops noted. In the south, grasshoppers are 38 per cent moderate or over threshold. Flea beetles are three per cent over threshold in the central region and lygus bugs are three per cent over threshold in the Peace.
Related Articles
Harvest Starts in Southern, Central Alberta
Fall Forecast Calls for Wet Cool Prairies, Dry Warm East
Better Seed Genetics Push Straight Cutting Canola Trend Forward
