Rain, snow continue to mess with harvest, now well behind five-year average

Alberta crop conditions as of September 18, 2018

Reading Time: 2 minutes Cold, wet weather has been the norm the past several days in almost all areas of the province, halting harvest progress. In addition to the rain/snow mix, frost has been highly variable. Alberta’s harvest as a whole is down 23.4 points over last year at this time for binned crops. With the exception of North […] Read more

Rain, snow mix freezes harvest progress

Alberta crop conditions as of September 11, 2018

Reading Time: 2 minutes Favourable weather conditions at the beginning of the past week led to harvest progress of about 11 per cent in Alberta, before the cold arctic weather brought a mix of rain and snow later in the week, which halted harvest. Provincially, about 28 per cent of crops have now been harvested, up 11 per cent […] Read more


Wet weather slows harvest pace

Alberta crop conditions as of September 4, 2018

Reading Time: 2 minutes Wet weather over the past week has slowed down harvesting operations in most areas across the province, especially in the North East, North West and Peace Regions. Frost was reported in some areas, but it is still early to estimate any potential damage. Currently, the quality for all crops are estimated higher than their short […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

StatsCan’s canola forecast deemed supportive

CNS Canada — A summer of dryness and sizzling heat has apparently taken its toll on canola plants in many areas of Western Canada, according to the latest crop production estimate from Statistics Canada. In a survey compiled in the latter days of July and released Friday, Statistics Canada pegged canola production for 2018-19 at […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Questions remain over heat’s impact on 2018 yields

CNS Canada — Harvest came early for some crops in Western Canada this year. A few canola crops in Manitoba are already in the bin as warm temperatures and a lack of rain helped growers hit the fields quicker than other years. However, a hot and mostly dry summer on the Prairies has left many […] Read more

Hot, dry weather sees crop conditions continue to decline

Alberta crop conditions as of August 21, 2018

Reading Time: < 1 minute Provincially, crop conditions continue to gradually decline and are more than 8 points below the 5 year average of 65.4 per cent. As expected, the South region saw little reprieve from the endured drought and the crop conditions suffered with only 39.6 per cent rated as good or excellent. In contrast, the conditions experienced in […] Read more


Every day, a real-life vegetable auction takes place for visitors to the world’s oldest sail-through auction, now a museum.

Sail-through auction a unique experience

Reporter's Notebook: Journo traders bid on produce as boats float by

Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian farmers are no strangers to the auction mart — but they do things a little differently at the sail-through auction in the Realm of a Thousand Islands. Like a quarter of the Netherlands, this area in North Holland lies below sea level, but that didn’t stop farmers from settling on its marshy lands centuries […] Read more

On the far left is sound red spring wheat seed. Next is a ‘not a fusarium- damaged’ kernel — it does not have sufficient seed discolouration
or fibrous fungal growth, also called mycelial growth, to qualify as a fusarium-damaged kernel. Next is fusarium-damaged kernels with light symptoms (mycelial growth is visible around the germ and in the broad crease, and the seed looks shrivelled and chalky white). On the far right are fusarium-damaged kernels with severe symptoms (abundant mycelial growth is visible on both seed surfaces, with some pink discolouration at the germ. The seed has a shrivelled, chalky white appearance).

Proper combine adjustment pays off now and later

You don’t want fusarium-damaged kernels lowering grade or spreading spores, says crop specialist

Reading Time: 3 minutes Producers need to make combine adjustments to prevent kernels damaged by fusarium head blight from going into storage, says a provincial crop specialist. Harvest management of fusarium-damaged kernels (FDK) will improve the grade of a cereal crop, said Neil Whatley. “Many FDKs — especially in wheat — are smaller, lighter in weight, and more shrunken […] Read more


Crop conditions, harvest operations below five-year average

Alberta crop conditions as of August 14, 2018

Reading Time: 2 minutes General rainfall happened across a large area from northwestern parts of the Central Region to the North West and North East Regions, with precipitation from five to 50 mm, bringing needed moisture to the fields after a spell of hot and dry conditions. Precipitation in the Peace Region varied from spotty showers to an inch […] Read more

Hot weather stressing crops, harvests seeing lower yields

Alberta crop conditions as of August 7, 2018

Reading Time: 2 minutes Since mid-July, variable precipitation has occurred across the province, with enough rain in some areas, while others are under dry conditions, especially in the southern part of the province. Hot temperatures added to the stress on crops and forages in dry areas, causing heat stress and pushing maturity quickly, resulting in lower than normal yields. […] Read more