Extreme weather in Central Alberta has likely stunted this year’s crop yield.
The 2015 harvest is estimated to be 25 per cent below the five-year average, according to the latest Alberta Crop Report. “All in all, the crops have really suffered” from drought in the spring and early summer, said James Wright, a risk analyst from the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation in Lacombe.
With too little rain during May planting and continued parched conditions in late June “when crops are setting up to head,” Wright believes most plants are stressed and unable to grow to their full potential.
He predicted, “It doesn’t matter how much moisture we get from this point on, it’s not going to help too much” — aside from plumping up some kernels.
However, some crops benefitted from early planting in moister soil and are doing better than others. Wright said localized rainfall in May and June also resulted in a wide range of plant quality in some fields. “Some stuff is very good and some stuff is very bad.”
Other farmers had crops decimated by extreme hailstorms — such the golf-ball-sized ice chunks that broke windshields in the Lacombe area on July 20. “We’ve had a tough hail year. We’re well backed up, getting (crop insurance) adjustors out,” said Wright.
The Airdie to Red Deer area is considered Alberta’s “hail alley,” and hailstorms have been a significant problem for five out of the last seven years.
Conditions this spring and summer teetered between prolonged periods of drought or extreme rain. Temperatures also fluctuated from below- to above-average.
Although thermometers are expected to climb into the high 20s and low 30s this week, Wright hopes for a more moderate climate for the rest of the summer to allow crops to gradually ripen. “We don’t want to rush them to maturity.”
Crop development is already progressing very quickly, with the Alberta Crop Report mentioning spring cereals in the later stages. The harvest of winter cereals, field peas and early barley has already started in Southern Alberta and is expected to happen soon in this central region.
Canola is in full flower in many parts of the province, and there’s good regrowth of hay and pasture in the western part of the region, thanks to ample July precipitation.
Wright believes this year’s agricultural yield will fall considerably short of the bumper harvest of 2013 — a growing season with moderate temperatures and ample rainfall. “The dry June and the hot weather was a real killer.”
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com