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This information has been made available by Agriculture Financial Services Corporation.
The September 2, 2014 Crop Report is also available as a PDF file on the AFSC website.
With harvest underway, an unstable weather pattern has covered the province over the past 2 weeks bringing cool, wet weather to all regions. The wet conditions have not been substantial enough to stop harvest for an extended period of time, but it is slowing harvest progress to a crawl. Currently, approximately 13% of crops in the province have been combined with a further 26% in the swath compared to 4% combined and 16% swathed last week. 54% of the canola and 15% of the spring wheat and barley crops are in the swath, while almost 70% of the field pea crop has been harvested.
Despite the cooler, wetter bias to the weather of late, both surface and sub soil moisture ratings declined this week. Surface moisture ratings dropped 4% to 60% rated good or excellent as a small rating improvement in the Central Region was offset by declines in the North East, North West and Peace Regions. Sub soil moisture ratings declined 1% to 64% rated good or excellent. A small soil moisture improvement in the Central was negated by small declines in the other four regions.
Hay and pasture condition ratings declined a further 3% to 48% rated good or excellent as the growing season winds down. Hay/pasture ratings are currently 13% Poor; 39% Fair; 44% Good; 4% Excellent.
Regional Assessments:
The 2014 Alberta Crop Report Series provides summaries for the following five regions:
Region One: Southern (Strathmore, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Foremost)
- Harvest operations slowed by wet weather late last week.
- 20% swathed and 17% combined (11% swathed and 6% combined prior week).
- % In Swath - Canola 43%, Barley 19%, Spring Wheat 18%.
- Harvest of special crops such as dry beans and late maturing potatoes are getting underway.
- Surface soil moisture – 64% rated good/excellent; Sub soil moisture – 65% rated good/excellent.
- Hay/pasture ratings – 46% good/excellent (up 2%).
Region Two: Central (Rimbey, Airdrie, Coronation, Oyen)
- Cool, wet weather in western area; warmer, drier weather in the eastern portion.
- 26% swathed and 7% combined (13% swathed and 1 - 2% combined prior week).
- % In Swath - Canola 50%, Barley 16%, Spring Wheat 15%.
- Surface soil moisture – 70% rated good/excellent; Sub soil moisture – 66% rated good/excellent.
- Hay/pasture ratings – 59% good/excellent (up 2%).
Region Three: North East (Smoky Lake, Vermilion, Camrose, Provost)
- Harvest operations affected by showers and light rain.
- 31% swathed and 7% combined (18% swathed and 1 - 2% combined prior week).
- % In Swath - Canola 65%, Barley 12%, Spring Wheat 7%.
- Surface soil moisture – 71% rated good/excellent; Sub soil moisture – 82% rated good/excellent.
- Hay/pasture ratings – 63% good/excellent (down 6%).
Four: North West (Barrhead, Edmonton, Leduc, Drayton Valley, Athabasca)
- Cool, showery weather slowed combining, producers swathing canola instead.
- 26% swathed and 5% combined (5% swathed and less than 1% combined prior week).
- % In Swath - Canola 54%, Barley 4%, Spring Wheat 3%.
- Surface soil moisture – 43% rated good/excellent; Sub soil moisture – 42% rated good/excellent.
- Hay/pasture ratings – 37% good/excellent (down 21%).
Region Five: Peace River (Fairview, Falher, Grande Prairie, Valleyview)
- Received precipitation which slowed harvest progress but too late to be of any benefit.
- 31% swathed and 35% combined (32% swathed and 14% combined prior week).
- % In Swath - Canola 51%, Barley 13%, Spring Wheat 12%.
- Surface soil moisture – 27% rated good/excellent; Sub soil moisture – 37% rated good/excellent.
- Hay/pasture ratings – 43% good/excellent (down 1%).
James Wright, Risk Analyst
Agriculture Financial Services Corporation
Actuarial, Analytics & Forecasting Unit
Email: james.wright@afsc.ca
Telephone:(403)782-8336
Lacombe, Alberta
September 5, 2014
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