Spring precipitation is usually welcome on Central Alberta farms, although the current wet conditions would probably have been greeted more enthusiastically had they arrived a week later.
Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development’s latest crop report indicates that seeding in this region was nearly 70 per cent complete, as of Tuesday. That was about five percentage points ahead of the average for this time of the year.
The provincial average last week was 66 per cent — on par with the five-year average — with Southern Alberta leading the way with an 88 per cent completion rate and their counterparts in the Peace Region at the other end of the spectrum at 43 per cent. North of Central Alberta, the completion rate was 52 per cent to the east and 56 per cent to the west.
Prior to the current rainfall, surface moisture in 81 per cent of the area around Red Deer was rated as good to excellent, with 17 per cent fair, two per cent poor and two per cent excessive. In the case of pasture land, 74 per cent was rated as good or excellent, 24 per cent as fair and two per cent as poor. Hay land followed a similar rating.