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Crop Conditions as of July 5, 2016 (Abbreviated Report)
Crop condition ratings improved in all regions of the province with the greatest improvement occurring in the South and Central regions. Precipitation in the form of frequent showers prevailed throughout the province and was much welcomed in the dry western areas though the precipitation was an unwanted impediment to those spraying fungicides or baling hay. Crop condition ratings rose 2 percentage points on the week to 81% of the province rated good or excellent compared to the 5 year average of 71%. Last year, only 27% of the province was rated good or excellent at this time. Spring wheat, barley and canola ratings improved 2 points on the week with oats and field pea ratings up 1 percentage point.
Crop development finds much of the canola and field peas in flower with a small amount of podding occurring in the earlier areas. Cereals are entering their reproductive growth stage with much of the crop in the flag leaf to early head emergence stages. Pollination should be in full swing in the next 7 – 10 days, very much on average.
Surface soil moisture ratings improved 6 percentage points to 81% rated good or excellent, though excessive moisture ratings also rose by 1 point to 2.4% of the province due to the continuing wet weather. Subsoil moisture ratings improved to 71% good or excellent, up 6 points on the week. Rating improvements were noted in all regions.
Pasture ratings improved in all regions to 74% good or excellent, up 4 percentage points. Hay crops are less able to appreciate the improve moisture conditions based on their current growth stage, but rose 3 percentage points to 71% good or excellent condition in anticipation of a promising second cut in late August.
REGIONAL ASSESSMENTS:
The 2016 Alberta Crop Report Series continues to provide summaries for the following five regions:
Region One: Southern (Strathmore, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Foremost)
- Spotty showers brought welcomed moisture especially to the dry western portion of the region.
- Crop condition ratings improved 2 percentage points to 69% rated good or excellent. Spring wheat and canola ratings rose 3 points, barley was up 2 points with field peas showing little change.
- Surface soil moisture improved 11 points to 62% rated good or excellent while sub soil moisture ratings improved to 58% good or excellent, up 7 percentage points.
- Pasture ratings rose 3 points to 48% good or excellent, hay ratings rose 2 points to 45% good/excellent.
Region Two: Central (Rimbey, Airdrie, Coronation, Oyen)
- Persistent late in the day showers covered the entire region this week.
- Crop condition ratings improved by 4 percentage points to 77% of the region rated good or excellent. Ratings improved most notably for spring wheat, canola and field peas, up 5 points. Barley and oat ratings were up 2 points.
- Surface soil moisture ratings jumped 15 percentage points to 76% good or excellent. Sub soil rating also showed a major improvement to 74% good or excellent, up 11 points on the week.
- Pastures are rated 73% good/excellent, up 4 points. Hay ratings are up 6 points to 68% good/excellent.
Region Three: North East (Smoky Lake, Vermilion, Camrose, Provost)
- Frequent showers covered the region increasing the amount of excessive moisture in the region.
- Crop condition ratings which were already very high entering the reporting period showed a minimal improvement to 93% good or excellent. With all crops rated over 90% good/excellent, small declines were reported for spring wheat and field peas with small improvements for barley and canola.
- Surface soil moisture ratings declined slightly due to a 1.5 point increase in the excessive moisture rating. Sub soil ratings rose 1 point to 78% good/excellent. Excessive moisture also rose though marginally.
- Pasture condition ratings improved to 97% good or excellent, up 3 percentage points. Hay ratings rose 2 points to 98% in good or excellent condition.
Region Four: North West (Barrhead, Edmonton, Leduc, Drayton Valley, Athabasca)
- Daily showers experienced across the region
- Crop conditions are exceptional with most crops rated above 95% good or excellent. The exception is canola at 87%. Canola rating being affected by the high soil moisture conditions. Spring wheat, barley, oats and canola ratings up 1 – 2 points. Field peas unchanged at 99% good/excellent.
- Surface soil moisture declined by 1 percentage point to 98% good or excellent due to a similar increase in the excessive moisture rating. Sub soil ratings rose 4 points to 73% good or excellent.
- Pastures showed significant ratings improvement of 16 percentage points to 79% good or excellent. Tame hay condition ratings were up 9 percentage points to 73% rated good/excellent.
Region Five: Peace River (Fairview, Falher, Grande Prairie, Valleyview)
- Sporadic showers and thunderstorms brought amounts of up to 60 mm to some parts of the region.
- Marginal improvement in crop condition ratings. Ratings being affected by pooling of water in low areas. Crop conditions rose 1 percentage point to 81% good or excellent. Spring wheat and canola ratings rose 1 point on the week while ratings on barley, oats and field peas were little changed.
- Surface soil moisture ratings improved 1 point to 92% good or excellent. Excessive moisture declined marginally to 5% of the region. Sub soil moisture ratings rose 2 percentage points to 90% good/excellent.
- Pasture ratings were near unchanged at 81% good or excellent, while tame hay is rated 78% good or excellent, up 1 percentage point on the week.
Agriculture Financial Services Corporation
James Wright, Risk Analyst
Actuarial, Analytics & Forecasting Unit
E-mail: james.wright@afsc.ca
Phone: 403-782-8336
Lacombe, Alberta
July 8, 2016
Note to Users: The contents of this document may not be used or reproduced without properly accrediting Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, Economics and Competitiveness Branch, Statistics and Data Development Section
The 2016 Alberta crop reporting series is available on the Internet at: http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/sdd4191
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