(farmnewsNOW)

By Sheldon Spackman

Crop Update

Harvest nearing completion in central Alberta

Oct 9, 2020 | 2:35 PM

Following continued progress on harvest efforts throughout central Alberta last week, some rain last Sunday put harvest to a halt in some areas.

Since last week, producers were able to combine an additional 19 per cent of their major crops. Overall, about 90 per cent of all crops are combined, with five per cent swathed and another five per cent still standing. About eight per cent of canola is in swath and six per cent standing.

For all crops, quality is said to be above their regional averages. About 95 per cent of hard red spring wheat, all durum wheat and 94 per cent of oats are graded in the top two grades.

Almost 50 per cent of barley is eligible for malt and 41 per cent graded as No. 1 feed. For canola, 88 per cent is graded as No. 1, and six per cent as No. 2. About 52 per cent of dry peas is graded as No. 1, 40 per cent as No. 2, seven per cent as No. 3 and one per cent as feed.

Fall seeded crops are rated as 2 per cent poor, 12 per cent fair, 84 per cent good and 2 per cent excellent.

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Meantime, precipitation across the province has been lower than normal since Sept. 1. Most areas in the North East, North West and Peace Regions received only 15-20 mm of rain, which was extremely low, with the probability of happening once in 25 to 50 years.

For a large area within these regions, precipitation has been even lower, with the probability of once in 50 years. Low precipitation along with the warmer than average temperatures has allowed producers across the province to make significant harvest progress by the first week of October.

Provincially, as of Oct. 6, about 90 per cent of crops have been harvested, 29 per cent ahead of the 5-year and 20 per cent ahead of the 10-year average.

The 2020 harvest progress for the first week of October was the highest over the past decade, following 2012 when harvest was 96 per cent complete.

Regionally, when compared to the 5-year averages, harvest is the most advanced in the North East and North West Regions, where combining is respectively 42 and 41 per cent ahead of the average.

Harvest in the Central Region is 33 per cent ahead and in the Peace Region 27 per cent. For the Southern Region, harvest is nearly complete and 10 per cent ahead of the average. An additional five per cent of crops are in swath, while another five per cent are still standing.

Provincial dryland yields are now estimated at 53.9 bushels per acre for spring wheat, 74.1 bushels per acre for barley, 83.9 bushels per acre for oats, 40.3 bushels per acre for canola and 42.3 bushels per acre for dry peas. The yields are nine per cent above both 5-year and 10-year averages.

There are some reports, particularly in the North West Region, of yield loss in the swath due to shelling out. Also, for some flooded acres or late seeded crops, heads have not been filled as expected.

Regionally, yields for the Southern and Central Regions are estimated 40 and 17 per cent above their 5-year averages, respectively. For the North East Region, yields are slightly above the 5-year average, by two per cent. Yields in the North West and Peace Regions are estimated at 24 per cent and 14 per cent below average.

On average for the province, grades on the harvested portion of major crops are rated at high quality, while regional grading is variable across the province. Crop quality in the North West Region as well as in some areas of the North East and Peace Regions has been impacted by the wet spring and summer.