As of September 29, harvest progress of major crops in the North West Region advanced 10 per cent over the previous week to 90 per cent combined, ahead of the five-year average of 69 per cent.
That’s according to the latest crop report by the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) and Government of Alberta.
Major crop harvest is nearing completion with 97 per cent complete for spring wheat, 98 for barley, 96 for oats, 79 for canola, and 100 for dry peas.
Meantime, warm and mostly dry conditions continue to erode sub-surface moisture with ratings now 54 per cent poor, 27 per cent fair, 19 per cent good, zero per cent excellent, and zero per cent excessive.
Fall-seeded crop conditions are rated as 35 per cent poor, 38 per cent fair, 23 per cent good and three per cent excellent.
Across the province, harvest is advancing at a steady pace. Warm, dry daytime conditions are expected to sustain progress despite cooler evenings. Major crops are now 89 per cent harvested, a substantial 12 per cent increase over the past week.
Regionally, the Peace Region leads the province with 93 per cent of crops harvested, while the South follows closely at 91 per cent. The North West and North East are nearly level at 90 and 89 per cent, respectively, and the Central has reached 84 per cent complete. With regional harvest progress ahead of or near historical five-year averages, producers reportedly remain on track to complete harvest in the next few weeks.
Regarding major cereal crops, provincial harvest is nearing completion. The spring wheat harvest is now 96 per cent complete, well ahead of the five-year average of 89 per cent. Barley has also reached 96 per cent, surpassing the 91 per cent five-year average, while oats stand at 91 per cent harvested, far exceeding 74 per cent of the five-year average.
With spring cereal harvest largely concluded, attention has shifted to canola, which was indicated by the harvest progress gain of 21 per cent. This brings provincial harvest progress for canola to 77 per cent, which is above the five-year average of 68 per cent. The remaining 23 per cent of unharvested canola crop is split between 12 per cent still standing in the field and 11 per cent drying in the swath.
Otherwise, hot and dry conditions continued across the province this week, with many areas not receiving any rain since August. These conditions have further impacted soil moisture reserves, resulting in an overall decrease of 10 per cent in both provincial good to excellent surface and sub-surface soil moisture ratings compared to the previous report.
Provincially, 15 per cent of surface soil moisture is rated good to excellent, with sub-surface ratings slightly higher at 18 per cent. Regional good to excellent surface soil moisture (sub-surface) ratings this week are 22 per cent (25 per cent) in the South, seven per cent (12 per cent) for Central, six per cent (10 per cent) for the North East, 23 per cent (19 per cent) for the North West and 27 per cent (28 per cent) for the Peace Region.
Meantime, the seasonal shift to cooler, dry weather continues to impact pasture growth. Many producers are bringing cattle home and have begun supplemental feeding.
Pasture conditions rated as good to excellent remained stable across all regions, except in the Central Region. At a provincial level, the amount of pasture rated good to excellent fell to 15 per cent, a decrease of 13 per cent over the previous week. Regional pasture conditions rated as good to excellent this week are 31 per cent for the South, two per cent for the Central, one per cent in the North East, 14 per cent in the North West, and 27 per cent in the Peace.
Looking ahead, livestock producers are hopeful for more rain prior to the winter freeze-up to encourage crucial fall pasture regrowth and to replenish soil moisture for strong forage stands next spring.
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