A stretch of better harvest weather allowed Alberta farmers to make their biggest gains of the season in late September, but the province remains well behind its normal harvest pace.
As of Sept. 29, 60 per cent of Alberta’s major crops had been harvested, according to the latest Alberta Crop Report. That’s a sharp increase from 39 per cent one week earlier. Even with the improvement, harvest remained well behind the five-year average of 86 per cent and the 10-year average of 68 per cent for this point in the season.
For farmers, the numbers point to a harvest that is finally moving quickly — but one that still has little room for another prolonged stretch of poor weather.
Dry peas are essentially finished, with 97 per cent harvested provincially. Barley harvest reached 79 per cent, while spring wheat made one of the largest weekly gains, jumping 30 percentage points to 73 per cent complete. Canola continues to lag the other major crops. Just 31 per cent had been harvested as of Sept. 29, although that was up 16 percentage points from the previous week. Another 36 per cent of the crop had been swathed.
That leaves a significant share of Alberta’s canola crop still waiting to come off as October begins.
The South remains furthest ahead, with 77 per cent of major crops harvested. Central Alberta climbed 25 percentage points in a week to reach 68 per cent complete, while the North East also gained 25 points to reach 53 per cent. The North West advanced to 46 per cent harvested and the Peace Region reached 45 per cent. Those gains are significant given how persistently wet conditions delayed crop development and fieldwork across northern parts of Alberta earlier in the season.
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