Reading Time: 3 minutes With the exception of a few feed crops, seeding is essentially finished in Alberta. Producers are actively spraying and scouting fields. Areas of concern vary from smoke and frost in the north to flea beetles and cutworms in other pockets of the province. In the week ending June 11 there were rainfall events providing 15 […] Read more
Seeding in Alberta complete, forage growers struggle with dry weather
Alberta Crop Report: Conditions as of June 11
Dry weather stalls crop growth, pastures well below five-year average
Alberta Crop Report: Conditions as of June 4
Reading Time: 3 minutes The recent warm weather helped with both seeding and crop emergence. In terms of seeding progress, producers are five points ahead of the five year average of 94 and are currently sitting at over 99 per cent complete. Across the province emergence average is now at 72 which is also higher than the five year […] Read more

Sunflowers doing well despite drought
MarketsFarm — Though many producers bemoan current drier-than-normal springtime conditions across the Prairies, sunflower crops are primed for a good year. “As long as there’s enough moisture to germinate, they immediately grow a really deep root system,” said Ben Friesen of Scoular Canada. While Statistics Canada estimated the 2019 sunflower acreage to remain pretty much […] Read more
Major crops in Alberta nearly all seeded, pastures see delayed growth
Alberta Crop Report: Conditions as of May 28
Reading Time: 4 minutes Relatively good weather over the past week has resulted in good seeding progress. As of May 28, provincially about 91 per cent of major crops have been seeded, compared to 72 per cent a week ago and the 5-year average (2014-2018) of 79 per cent. Regionally, seeding progress was most advanced at 95 per cent […] Read more
Dry weather sees good seeding progress
Alberta Crop Report: Conditions as of May 21, 2019
Reading Time: 4 minutes Since April 1, the western parts of the province received at least 40 mm of accumulated precipitation, while areas in the northern parts of the Peace Region, eastern parts of the North West, most parts of the Central, and eastern parts of the Southern Region have seen less than 20 mm of rain. Frost was […] Read more

Sunny days seen ahead for sunflower crops
MarketsFarm — Though sunflowers were at the mercy of Western Canada’s unseasonable weather in 2018, the 2019 growing season may be more predictable. In November 2018, some Manitoba sunflower crops were late to come off the field. A cold and rainy fall delayed the Prairie harvest, lowered average yields and impacted the overall size of […] Read more

SunOpta sheds U.S. Midwest organic corn, soy business
Organic food firm SunOpta Inc. has stepped out of the U.S. organic corn and soybean business in a $66.5 million deal with Minnesota-based organic startup Pipeline Foods. Mississauga-based SunOpta announced Monday it closed a deal with Pipeline last Friday for the Canadian firm’s organic and “specialty” soy and corn operations, which include five plants in […] Read more

Cold, wet weather delays Prairie sunflower harvest
CNS Canada — For sunflowers it was a tough year that began with dry conditions at seeding time, then more dry weather in July and August, only to be topped off by a cold, wet fall. The quality of sunflowers, however, is said to be pretty good in Western Canada. Darcelle Graham, executive director of […] Read more
Little harvest progress made, pasture, soil moisture ratings see improvement
Alberta crop conditions as of October 16, 2018
Reading Time: 2 minutes Overall, minimal harvest progress was achieved this reporting period. Last week the average of Major Crops harvested was 46.7 per cent as compared to this week we are up 3.2 points to 49.9 per cent. Over 95 per cent of peas are in the bin with the exception of Peace Region which has only 66.9 […] Read more

Sunflower production seen beating StatsCan estimates
CNS Canada — Sunflowers in southern Manitoba are starting to come off and early indications point to very good quality. Ben Friesen, manager of the sunflowers, flax and bird food division for the Scoular Co. in Winkler, said although only a few samples have come in, what he’s seen so far is promising. Sunflower growers […] Read more