The Alberta major crop harvest is into the homestretch.
Friday’s provincial crop report showed the harvest of major crops (spring wheat, oats, barley, canola, and dry peas) at 89% complete as of Tuesday, up 12 points from a week earlier and ahead of the five- and 10-year averages of 82% and 65%.
The Peace Region was leading harvest progress at 93% done as of Tuesday, followed by the South at 91%, the North West at 90% and the North East at 90%. The Central is bringing up the rear at 84% complete.
“With regional harvest progress ahead of or near to historical five-year averages, producers remain on track to complete harvest in the next few weeks,” the report said.
Provincial cereal crops are essentially finished. Spring wheat and barley are both 96% harvested, comfortably ahead of their five-year averages of 89% and 91% respectively. Oats are at 91% complete, far exceeding the 74% norm. With cereals wrapped up, the focus has turned to canola, where rapid progress this past week was evident. Canola harvest advanced 21 points, bringing provincial completion to 77%, compared to a five-year average of 68%. Of the canola yet to be harvested, 12% remains standing and 11% is swathed and drying in the field.
The pea harvest is also largely complete. Attention in the weeks ahead will remain on finishing canola and any remaining late-seeded cereals.
Hot, dry conditions have persisted across Alberta, with many regions having received little or no rainfall since August. As a result, soil moisture reserves continue to deteriorate. Both surface and sub-surface soil moisture ratings dropped by 10 percentage points from the previous week. Currently, just 15% of surface soils and 18% of sub-surface soils are rated good to excellent.
Moisture conditions vary by region. The Peace leads with 27% of surface soils in good to excellent condition, while the South follows at 22%. The North West sits at 23%, while the North East and Central trail well behind at 6% and 7% respectively. Sub-surface ratings follow a similar pattern, with the Peace at 28% and the North East bottoming out at 10%.
