“It is quick, but it’s very risky,” said the provincial cereal extension specialist. “With Slave Lake followed by Fort McMurray, a lot of these municipalities are not tickled pink about burning.

“So you’ve got to have a Plan B ready to go in case you can’t burn or are delayed by a wet spring.”

And the first step to that is salvaging what you can, said Langlois, who spoke at a Battle River Research Group crop production meeting earlier this month.

“I would suggest combining if it’s got any value at all as a crop,” he said. “You should see how bad it is first before you give up on it. Just get out there and see. You might be pleasantly surprised.”

A delay to spring seeding may be a concern, depending on how Mother Nature behaves over the next month, but Langlois suspects we’ll have a “normal” spring.

“As I get closer and closer to spring, it’s getting to be clear that we’re not going to have a March like we did last year. But it doesn’t look like we’re going to have a late spring, and that’s good news.”

If you time it right and choose some shorter-season crops, there should be “a window of opportunity” where you can combine while you wait for the soil to dry.

“I think we’re still going to be on time for April, but if it’s a late, tight spring — which it still could be — it’s going to be a whole new kettle of fish.”

Springtime combining

Fortunately, the snowfall this winter doesn’t seem set to break any records.

“It could have been a disaster for us, but we haven’t had four feet of snow sitting on top of these swaths or the standing wheat,” said Langlois. “As far as windrows go, the ones I’ve seen are nice and airy. It will dry faster than it could have had we had heavy snow.”

But if your crops are windrowed, “combining is going to be slow going.”

“The bottoms are going to be wet, and you’re not going to wait for the bottoms to dry out next to the cold ground. You’re going to get out there ahead of that,” he said.

“Normally you’d wait for the whole thing to be ready, but you’re just going to have to live with that as a problem.”

You might be tempted to flip it, but don’t.

“I wouldn’t touch it. You’re going to lose everything you have left if you do that.”

Instead, use crop lifters and get out into the field before the weather warms up, he said.

“If you can find a morning where it’s still frozen and you can float the combine before the ground gets mucky, that would be a good thing.”

High risk

If you do decide to burn what’s left of your crop, talk to your insurance agent first.

“Before you decide to burn your field or destroy it — anything that’s not collecting it and taking it into the elevators — you should get a hold of your insurance guy,” said Langlois.

“You don’t want to lose out on insurance unnecessarily just because you didn’t ask for it first.”

And then you’re going to need a permit.

“Any burning between March 1 and October 31 in Alberta requires a permit,” said Langlois, adding some counties require year-round permits and those in a forest protection area will need to visit their local forestry office, too. If you haven’t done so already, have those discussions right away, he said.

Even with a permit, you’ll need to follow all the provincial and municipal regulations for burning. At a bare minimum, “supervision is a must,” as is a fire guard of cleared soil, and burning at night or on windy days are no-nos.

“For the few fires that got away from us in the Peace region, 90 per cent of the time it was because it got windy on them,” said Langlois. “So listen to the weather reports. We make fun of the forecasts, but the one thing they’re really good at doing is the wind forecast.”

Depending on how spring goes, you may have a “very narrow window” to get it done, he added.

“Last year in the Peace region, it went from being dry enough to burn to them putting a ban on in only 10 days. That permit is useless once they declare a fire ban,” said Langlois. “If the day comes where they pull the cork and they say no burning, you can get seriously charged if you light a match after that’s been declared. You have to be on the ball.”

It’s for those reasons (and more) that Langlois cautions against burning if you have another option.

“We lost homes to fire in the B.C. Peace last year, and most of it was from fires getting away. This is a serious problem. You can’t take it lightly.”

The post High fire risk means burning unharvested crops should be a ‘last resort’ appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Despite the harvest challenges for crops across the province, the dryland yield index was estimated 14.1 per cent above the 5-year average. However, the crop quality for cereals are below their 5-year averages, except malt barley which is higher. Crop quality for canola number one and the top two grades of dry peas are in line with the 5-year averages. About 66 per cent of hard red spring wheat has now graded in the top two grades, down 12 per cent from the 5-year average. About 54 per cent of durum wheat has graded number 2 or better, down 23 per cent from the 5-year average. About 23 per cent of barley is eligible for malt (up five per cent from the 5-year average) and 60 per cent is graded as number 1 (down seven per cent from the 5-year average). About 58 per cent of oats is graded in the top two grades, down 20 per cent from the 5-year average. Almost 81 per cent of harvested canola is graded as number one (in line with the 5-year average), with 14 per cent graded as number 2 (up two per cent from the 5-year average). About 73 per cent of dry peas are graded in the top two grades, in line with the 5-year averages.

Provincially, feed supplies are anticipated to be very good. Both forage and feed grain reserves are estimated as adequate to surplus, with very few producers anticipating a shortfall. Forage reserves are reported as one per cent deficit, nine per cent shortfall, 62 per cent adequate and 28 per cent surplus, while the rating for feed grain reserves is three per cent deficit, four per cent shortfall, 61 per cent adequate and 32 per cent surplus.

Click here to read the full report on the Alberta Agriculture website, complete with graphics and a breakdown by regions.

The post The long harvest of 2016, no thanks to the weather appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Threshing and grain moving leads airborne dust and moulds. Breathing in these elements can affect workers’ health and comfort, and, for someone with allergies, it can be life threatening.

To limit exposure have the correct and clean air filter in place when operating the combine; avoid direct exposure to dust whenever possible; properly adjust your combine to minimize grain damage and the amount of dust being generated; wear a new certified N-95 dust mask (respirator) that fits properly; and avoid dust exposure in the case of any chronic respiratory health issues.

The post Limit your exposure to dust and moulds during harvest appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

But that goes out the window when CBC TV star Rick Mercer shows up.

“They had about three or four cameras all over the combine, and a drone with a camera on it taking pictures,” said Round Hill producer Humphrey Banack. “We got some really fantastic shots of harvest, with the three combines coming down the field one right behind each other. They got some really nice shots of harvest that we’ll keep and use. It turned out well.”

They also got some shots of what happens when you let a comedian turn off auto steer and run the combine through a wheat field.

“When your father sees the track I’ve made will he be able to tell I was driving?” Mercer asks Nick Banack after he allowed the TV star to take the wheel.

“Absolutely,” deadpans Nick as a drone shot reveals the wildly zigzagging path through the field.

Mercer also slides down a 25,000-bushel wheat pile and makes “grain angels” with Banack’s nephews, who stayed home from school to take in the action.

The Rick Mercer Report crew came out on the first day of fall and while the Banack family gave up about 10 hours of combining time to participate in the filming, it was well worth it, said Humphrey Banack.

“When he left here, I think we had impressed him with some knowledge of agriculture that he didn’t have before,” said the vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. “For me and my family, we consider that to be a success. Being on TV was a secondary thing.”

The CFA suggested the Banacks when contacted by the show, and Mercer was interested in the details of what it takes to run a family farm.

“It was as much a learning experience for him as anything,” said Banack. “We also had some handouts for him on what you can use wheat for, and what you can use barley for. We tried to provide as much information for him as we could.”

His family also learned a bit about making a TV show, he added, citing the work that went into setting up the shot of the harvest supper out in the field prepared by Banack’s mother-in-law Donna Kennedy.

“It was interesting, because the TV crew needed everyone in the right place. They needed the sun right, the picture right, and the combine behind it right. We had to move the table four times,” he said. “We spent more time setting up than eating.”

The eight-minute segment, which aired in late October, can be found here at cbc.ca/mercerreport.

The post Don’t let this comedian drive your combine appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.