Alberta farmers made decent harvest progress this past week despite widespread rain and snow that interrupted field work across much of the province.
Friday’s weekly crop report showed the harvest of major crops (spring wheat, oats, barley, peas, and canola) at 88% complete as of Tuesday, up 10 points from the previous week. That is behind the five-year average of 98% but is still ahead of the 10-year average of 85%.
Producers worked to bring in as much crop as possible before precipitation halted combining, particularly in northern Alberta, where some areas received more than 50 mm of rain and snow, the report said. Although snow melted quickly in many locations, wet fields and cool temperatures delayed harvesting for several days.
Regionally, the harvest is most advanced in the Central region at 97% complete, followed by the South at 96%. The North East is 81% finished, the North West 85%, and the Peace region trails at 74%.
The harvest of major crops is ahead of the 10-year average in the South, Central and North West regions, but remains behind in the North East and Peace regions.
Among individual crops, spring wheat was 95% harvested, barley 96% and oats 84%. Canola harvesting reached 74% complete, compared to 56% the previous week. The pea harvest is basically complete.
The Peace region continues to face the greatest harvest challenges, with canola only 57% complete and oats at 77%. Producers in northern Alberta report that much of the remaining standing crop will require additional on-farm drying.
Meanwhile, fall seeded crops are rated 72% good to excellent provincially, well above the five-year average of 45% and the 10-year average of 58%.
The North West region reports the strongest fall crop conditions at 97% good to excellent, followed by the South at 83%, Peace at 67%, Central at 59% and North East at 46%.
Recent precipitation has maintained favourable soil moisture reserves heading into winter, the report added.
Provincial surface soil moisture was rated 69% good to excellent, compared to the five-year average of 31% and 10-year average of 51%.
The Peace region has the strongest surface moisture rating at 93% good to excellent, followed by the South and North East at 73%, North West at 69% and Central at 53%.
Subsurface moisture is rated 64% good to excellent provincially, compared to historical averages of 27% and 46% over the past five and 10 years, respectively.
The full Alberta crop report can be seen here:
https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/9af5b54d-f334-46ca-a0b1-23e560edb353/resource/bdfd090b-8d3f-4780-a053-130eb2b27762/download/agi-tedab-alberta-crop-report-2026-10-13-abbreviated-report.pdf
