Alberta’s Peace Region gets a touch of frost, crop conditions see slight decline overall

Alberta Crop Report: Conditions as of August 13

Reading Time: 6 minutes Frequent rain since July accompanied with cool temperature increased excessive soil moisture particularly in the North East and North West Regions. Hailstorms damaged some mature crops in southern parts of the province and destroyed some field crops in other areas. Additionally, a light frost occurred in the western to central parts of the Peace Region, […] Read more

ICE November 2019 canola with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Canola watching pre-harvest weather

MarketsFarm — ICE canola futures held rangebound during the week ended Wednesday, with uncertainty over new-crop production likely to keep some caution in the market over the next few weeks. “Canola is very attractively priced right now,” said Ken Ball of PI Financial in Winnipeg, noting crush margins have improved significantly in recent weeks to […] Read more


File photo of a pea crop south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 1, 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

Pulse weekly outlook: Alberta markets optimistic despite weather

MarketsFarm — Varied weather across Alberta has made for an unpredictable pulse harvest. “We’ve seen everything from drought-like conditions in the south, to an overabundance of water in the central region, and to some degree in the north as well,” said Leanne Fischbuch, executive director of Alberta Pulse. Despite less-than-favourable weather conditions, pulse producers are […] Read more

File photo of initial symptoms that may be seen the morning after a frost in canola. Depending on the amount of frost and weather conditions, either moderate damage or severe damage may develop. (Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

Prairies at risk of frosty harvest

MarketsFarm — Another dilemma is expected for the 2019 growing season: after a late start, western Canadian farmers could be challenged by an early end. Over the Aug. 10 weekend there were isolated reports of frost in some areas of the Peace region in northwestern Alberta. Other parts of the Prairies may be experiencing similar […] Read more


A barley crop south of Ethelton, Sask. on July 30, 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

Feed weekly outlook: Varying yields make for average crop

MarketsFarm — Feed grain crop yields are expected to be about average across the Prairies as harvest has kicked off. “It appears we’ll have somewhat of an average crop, with a bunch of high-yield areas and a bunch of low yield areas averaged together,” said Jim Beusekom, president of Market Place Commodities in Lethbridge. New-crop […] Read more

After horrible weather in September and early October, producers across the province were given a reprieve 
from Mother Nature and took full advantage — including this operation east of Carstairs, shown on the evening of 
Oct. 21.

In a year of extremes, soil moisture rebound a bright spot

The rain, snow, and cold in early fall had one upside — it recharged soil moisture reserves in much of the province

Reading Time: 4 minutes This year’s harvest was tough, but there is one good thing about it: Soil moisture and subsoil moisture are at almost normal levels in most of the province. “The soil moisture is looking better than it was at the end of August,” said Harry Brook, a crop specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. “It’s closer […] Read more


This map shows the total amount of precipitation that has fallen across the Prairies during the first half of September. After a dry summer, central and eastern Manitoba along with northern agricultural Saskatchewan and the northern half of Alberta received some significant precipitation. These regions saw anywhere from 25 to more than 50 millimetres, providing some much-needed soil moisture.

An early spring provided a longer- than-average frost-free season

Many parts of Alberta saw earlier-than-usual fall frosts but had a pretty decent frost-free period

Reading Time: 3 minutes Every year around this time the weather discussion begins to centre around the first fall frost. Some years, like when we see an early-fall frost, this topic is at the forefront of conversations. This year, if you live in Alberta or Saskatchewan then there is a good chance that you’ve already seen your first fall frost […] Read more



Speckled pods are a sign of light or moderate frost damage. (Canola Council of Canada photo)

First widespread frost lands on Prairies

CNS Canada — Farmers in Saskatchewan and Manitoba are waiting nervously for damage reports from Tuesday night’s frost. In Manitoba, fields between Riding Mountain National Park and Duck Mountain Provincial Park were hit with sustained frosts. “There are a few areas where they had a long duration of a light frost and that’s as bad […] Read more

(Jeannette Greaves photo)

Manitoba soy growers likely face light yields

CNS Canada — Manitoba soybeans will be ready for harvest well ahead of normal, provincial pulse crop specialist Dennis Lange said, fresh from fields where he was conducting maturity ratings. He said he was out around Morris on Tuesday and some soybean varieties there are already nearing full maturity. Throughout Manitoba, farmers could be taking […] Read more