The combines are ready and the crops are ripe for harvest, say local farmers — now, if only it would stop raining …
Sturgeon County farmers are gearing up for this year's harvest. Cold, wet conditions have made for exceptional yields but have also pushed harvest back about two weeks.
Terry Bokenfohr, who farms between St. Albert and Morinville, said he was just getting ready to harvest his peas this week. Those peas are usually ready by mid-August. "It's been a long growing season, and a lot of the crop is not fully mature yet."
County farmer Wayne Groot said that he was just starting to harvest his potatoes and had yet to begin collecting his wheat. "It's the rain that stops us from harvesting," he said. Most of the crops are ready to go. "We just need some sun and wind."
The whole Edmonton region is about two weeks behind harvest schedule, said Rod Scarlett, executive director of the Wild Rose Agricultural Producers, due to wet weather and unusually rich crops. Parts of northwest Alberta have finished their harvest, he added, although they didn't have much to collect due to drought.
Bokenfohr said he's started swathing his crops, but keeps having to stop because of the rain. "What we really need is three to four weeks of warm, dry weather."
Great, late harvest
This was an excellent growing season, Scarlett said, with most crops showing well above average yields in central Alberta. "It's so thick it's falling down."
Global crop prices remain strong, so farmers could turn a tidy profit next year. Prairie farmers would reap about 20.5 million tonnes of wheat this year, according to Statistics Canada, or about 16 per cent less than last year. Most of the drop was blamed on extensive floods in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. While those provinces were down about 20 to 25 per cent in terms of production, Alberta was up about five per cent due to high yields. Albertans would harvest about four million tonnes of canola as well, about 30 per cent more than last year.
This August was exceptionally wet in Alberta, said provincial fire weather supervisor Nick Nimchuk, with parts of Fort McMurray getting up to 100 millimetres of rain. We seem to be through the worst of it, however, and he predicted a return to warmer, drier weather by mid-September. "It should stay relatively dry."
Nimchuk did not predict an early frost, but did expect cooler temperatures in the next few weeks. "It's not too hard to get down to close to zero most nights this time of year." Expect temperatures in the high-teens otherwise.
Frost could lower the grade of some wheat crops, Bokenfohr said, but he wasn't too concerned about it. Hail has also been a problem for some local farmers as severe storms flattened their crops.
Expect to see farmers swathing and combining crops over the next few weeks, Bokenfohr said. Some crops will likely be left to cure on the ground for a few weeks before collection, storage and shipping.
Everyone's in a hurry to get things done, Scarlett noted, and some people might take shortcuts to get their crops in on time. "It's a matter of taking the time, getting rest and proper meals, and all those things to ensure a safe, bountiful harvest."
