Alberta’s 2024 harvest season has reached near completion with 99% of all crops harvested, marking a significant achievement ahead of schedule thanks to favorable weather in August and early September, according to the final crop report of the year. Harvest progress is well above Alberta’s 5-year average of 93% and the 10-year average of 87% at this point in the year. The southern, central, and Peace regions have effectively finished their harvests, while the North East and North West are at 97% completion and are expected to finish within the week. Among major crops, oats and canola are the only ones with some fields left, with 97% and 98% harvested, respectively.
Updated final quality ratings reveal that oats and dry peas outperformed the provincial 5-year average, with a higher percentage rated in the top two grades. However, spring wheat, durum, barley, and canola fell slightly below average for top-grade quality. Specific quality figures include hard red spring wheat with 51% rated 1 C.W. (Canada Western) and 33% rated 2 C.W., while durum wheat reached 45% 1 C.W. and 35% 2 C.W. Canola grades were strong, with 75% rated 1 Can. and 16% rated 2 Can. Barley, in contrast, achieved 26% in malt quality, 45% rated 1 C.W., and 22% rated 2 C.W.
Provincial crop yields for the 2024 season have also been finalized. Yield indices show that Alberta’s overall yield average for major crops sits at 97.1% of the 5-year average. While the South, North West, and Peace regions exceeded their 5-year yield averages by 12.4%, 2.8%, and 5.6% respectively, the North East and Central regions fell below, with yields at 10.6% and 16.4% lower than the 5-year average, respectively. Notably, dryland potato yields reached 9.7 tons per acre, irrigated potatoes yielded 20.1 tons per acre, sugar beets came in at 31.8 tonnes per acre, and dry beans produced 26.3 cwt per acre.
With this season’s successes and final statistics in place, Alberta’s agricultural community looks forward to next year with optimism. The accelerated harvest timeline and updated quality assessments have helped producers better prepare for the market, positioning Alberta well for the 2025 season.
For the full crop report go here.
