Despite heavy snowfalls in January, producers in the parched Peace region are still hoping for more snow.
“The Peace country is basically the only area in western Canada that’s dry,” said Alberta Agriculture market specialist Dave Wong. “We went into the winter with extremely dry soil conditions.”
Normally, the region receives about 55 to 65 millimetres of precipitation from mid-November to mid-January. As of late January, the Peace region had received 65 to 85 millimetres, making it only the third winter in the last 12 where there has been normal-or-better snowfall by late January.
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January’s snowfall was “most welcome” and above-average temperatures in early February were exceptionally good for area soil conditions, said Wong.
“Almost all of the melt disappeared into the ground,” he said. “I’ve never seen snow levels fall so quickly, and we didn’t see a lot of water running either. Most of it went right into the soil.”
Still, more of the white stuff is needed to replenish extremely dry subsurface soils, he added.
“We could use another two feet of snow, followed by a nice, slow melt.”
Peace producers will again be relying on summer rains to get them through the year.
The upside is that most producers completed their harvests last fall, so all the fields were worked, and “we’re ready to go come spring,” said Wong.
A quick reversal in soil moisture conditions is possible. At this time last year, Alberta from Edmonton south was suffering the driest conditions in more than 40 years. Then soil moisture was replenished in one year thanks to record precipitation. On the other hand, some areas of Saskatchewan and Manitoba are completely saturated.
“If they did get a crop in last year, they didn’t get it harvested,” said Wong.
North Peace better
Wong said that there are exceptions in the Peace, in areas north of Manning, La Crete, High Level and Fort Vermilion.
“They’re in good shape because they got the rains the rest of the region didn’t last year,” he said. “Thanks to the high market prices, they got exceptional incomes this winter.”
But high prices added to the frustration of most Peace producers, who had such poor crops, he said.
Peace crop yields have been dropping over the last two years, particularly in the Grimshaw and Hines Creek areas. Canola yields there were down by about 30 per cent, he said.
“On average, we saw about 20 to 25 bushels an acre, but some producers had five,” Wong said. “That’s tough.”
Prices are very strong, and currently still rallying, he noted.
“At this time last year canola was $9 a bushel and today we’re seeing $13.50,” said Wong. “That’s a 50 per cent improvement.”
He said that production expectations for grain will be lower than anticipated, making prices very tight.
“When that happens, people fight for the last few bushels,” he said. “That really pushes prices up.”
As for Peace producers, Wong said they will be relying on “Mother Nature waving her wand in our direction this year. With such good markets, if we can get a crop in we’re looking at good times.”
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“I’veneverseensnowlevelsfallsoquickly,andwedidn’tseealotofwaterrunningeither.Mostofitwentrightintothesoil.”
DAVE WONG
ALBERTA AGRICULTURE MARKET SPECIALIST
