Warmer conditions in Alberta have advanced the seeding process the past two weeks, but most areas are still a week behind normal, according to a provincial crop specialist.
“The last few years we’ve had cool, wet Mays,” said Harry Brook with Alberta’s Ag-Info Centre in Stettler. “This year May was cool and wet early on, but it’s warmed up. It’s compensated quite a bit, but we’re still behind by about a week.”
Seeding in southern Alberta is done, he added, with the central, northeast and northwest regions not far behind.
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“We had some really warm days. The temperatures are good. Crops are emerging right now and it’s moving along.”
However, the province’s Peace region and extreme west and eastern regions only have about 50 per cent of their seeding finished.
Although the weather hasn’t been perfect for farmers, it’s been a good year for them thus far regarding cutworms.
“There are a few cutworms, but there’s been hardly any activity in cutworms except in the extreme south where they are always a problem.”
Peas and wheat are the most advanced because they were seeded first, Brook said.
Although different crops are at different stages, “I don’t know if anything is struggling,” he added.
“There was some canola that was seeded in dry soil and didn’t go down with the moisture, because we’ve had quite a few days of strong southeasterly winds.
“There have been very few fields in southern Alberta that had to be reseeded because of it.”
— Brandon Logan writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.
