Reading Time: 2 minutes The month of September has been exceptionally cold across the province and, for many areas, unusually wet. Although cool damp weather conditions have halted harvest operations in many areas, this has led to normal precipitation accumulations for most areas of the province. Adding to this was the large snowfall event in the southern and western […] Read more
Cold weather, snowfall, slow harvest progress further
Alberta crop conditions as of October 2, 2018
It was more Standstill than September for many
Many weren’t able to ‘turn a wheel’ during what should be the golden days of autumn
Reading Time: 4 minutes It was a September that will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. “Harvest is at a standstill and it’s been that way for about three weeks now,” Alberta Wheat chair Kevin Bender said as the month came to a close. “For the most part, guys haven’t been able to turn a wheel yet.” Bender, […] Read more
Opinion: A cheerful wave or sympathetic ear this harvest season really does help
A little empathy will be much appreciated during this year’s long and difficult harvest
Reading Time: 2 minutes Please don’t read this as a complaint; this isn’t meant to be a complaint. With the recent snows in Alberta over the past two weeks, there are a lot of farmers on edge. So many farmers haven’t even turned a wheel in their fields, or if they have, they are either drying their grain or […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans, corn ease in technical setback
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures eased on Wednesday in a technical selling setback following two days of gains despite concerns that rainy weather in parts of the Midwest would delay harvesting and possibly damage some crops. Corn futures also fell as technical selling more than offset support from strong demand and potential harvest […] Read more
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
Rain, hail, sleet, snow chill harvest progress
Alberta crop conditions as of September 25, 2018
Reading Time: < 1 minute The wet cold front experienced over the last couple of weeks seems to have stationed itself in the province bringing rain, hail, sleet, and snow with it. Much snow has melted on initial contact, while a few grassy areas saw small amounts of accumulation. Optimistically, the early September snowfall experienced in parts of the province […] Read more
The long wait: Delayed harvest wears you down
The stress isn’t just in the mind — and talking things out will lessen those physiological drivers
Reading Time: 5 minutes Fatigue when working long hours is a serious safety concern on farms — but another kind of exhaustion often sets in when farmers want to be out in the field, but are hampered by poor weather. “Even though we aren’t actually combining and it’s not physically taxing, the fatigue can still be there,” said Hannah […] Read more
Rain, snow continue to mess with harvest, now well behind five-year average
Alberta crop conditions as of September 18, 2018
Reading Time: 2 minutes Cold, wet weather has been the norm the past several days in almost all areas of the province, halting harvest progress. In addition to the rain/snow mix, frost has been highly variable. Alberta’s harvest as a whole is down 23.4 points over last year at this time for binned crops. With the exception of North […] Read more
Tax relief offered to livestock producers short on feed
If you’re forced to sell breeding stock but planning to restock, you can defer taxes for a year
Reading Time: < 1 minute Twenty-one counties and municipal districts in Alberta are on the “initial list” of regions where livestock producers can defer taxes because of feed shortfalls. The federal government’s Livestock Tax Deferral Provision program allows producers to defer a portion of their 2018 sale proceeds of breeding livestock until 2019 to help replenish the herd. The cost […] Read more
Rain, snow mix freezes harvest progress
Alberta crop conditions as of September 11, 2018
Reading Time: 2 minutes Favourable weather conditions at the beginning of the past week led to harvest progress of about 11 per cent in Alberta, before the cold arctic weather brought a mix of rain and snow later in the week, which halted harvest. Provincially, about 28 per cent of crops have now been harvested, up 11 per cent […] Read more
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