(rdnewsNOW/Sheldon Spackman)

By rdnewsNOW staff

Conditions As Of Sept. 12, 2023

Harvest in central Alberta 41 per cent complete

Sep 15, 2023 | 3:14 PM

Harvest in central Alberta progressed 12 per cent since last week to 41 per cent complete, on par with the 5-year average.

That according to the latest Crop Report from AFSC and the Government of Alberta.

Officials say more desiccating has been necessary this year to manage green second growth. While swathing has also increased due to green plants, farmers are said to be cautious about cutting too much with the ongoing risk of showers. Green second growth could create an issue for grading.

The west side of the region reported having fair moisture, while the east side is quite dry. There were also reports of frost in low lying areas.

Surface soil rated good to excellent, increasing 1 per cent since the last report and now at 25 per cent. Sub-surface soil moisture rated good to excellent, decreasing 2 per cent and now rated at 27 per cent.

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According to officials, farmers are waiting for some hay crops to dry to finish haying. Pasture growth conditions (tame hay in brackets) are rated as 38 (32) per cent poor, 36 (40) per cent fair, 26 (28) per cent good and 0 (0) per cent excellent.

Meantime, a mostly dry week around the province allowed the crop harvest to progress from 14 per cent to 44 per cent complete, 6 per cent ahead of the 5-year average. Some regions such as the North West and North East reported overly saturated soil, but still made significant progress harvesting 12 and 15 per cent, respectively, during the last week. While the South Region has been dry most of the harvest season and the Peace Region was dry this past week, both made progress with the South harvesting 9 per cent and the Peace 21 per cent. This puts them at 16 and 21 per cent ahead of their 5-year average, respectively.

Since last week, the North East Region’s harvest progressed 15 per cent, but remains 5 per cent behind its 5-year average. Currently, harvest is furthest along in the South Region at 80 per cent complete, followed by the Peace and Central Region, at 44 and 41 per cent complete, respectively. The North East and North West have the least crop in the bin and are both 24 per cent complete. Provincially, 95 per cent of dry peas are combined. Most canola has been swathed and is waiting to mature, with 19 per cent combined.

Precipitation has been limited over the last week, ranging from 0 to 15 mm across the province and small areas in the North West and Central receiving between 15 and 25 mm. While the dry weather has helped harvest progress over the last month, more moisture is needed to assist fall seeded crops. Since last week, surface and sub-surface soil moisture rated good to excellent, although both decreased 2 per cent.

Currently, surface soil moisture (5-year average in brackets) is rated at 32 (20) per cent poor, 30 (29) per cent fair, 28 (39) per cent good, 8 (10) per cent excellent and 2 (2) per cent excessive. Subsurface soil moisture (5-year average in brackets) is rated at 37 (24) per cent poor, 28 (29) fair, 28 (33) good, 7 (12) per cent excellent and 0 (1) per cent excessive.

Pasture and tame hay growth are slowing down due to time of year and cooler weather, and livestock are being moved onto harvested fields. Late season rains have made second cut hay better than first cut yields. Pasture conditions (5-year average in brackets) are rated as 42 (32) per cent poor, 36 (35) per cent fair, 21 (31) per cent good and 1 (3) per cent excellent. Tame hay (5-year average in brackets) is rated as 32 (28) per cent poor, 38 (32) per cent fair, 28 (36) per cent good and 2 (5) per cent excellent. Both pasture and tame hay rated good to excellent, decreasing 4 per cent since last week.