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Cool, damp weather delays harvest for producers across province

Many producers experienced cool, damp weather this past week which halted or slowed their harvest operations until conditions improved. Other producers that were able to continue either finished their harvest or are very close to doing so. Harvest progress for the province is at 73 per cent, up from 64 per cent last week and ahead of the five-year (2017-2021) average of 68 per cent. An additional 18 per cent of the crop is ready to be swathed or straight-cut.

Harvest is most advanced in the southwest region, where 96 per cent of the crop is now combined. The west-central region has 89 per cent combined and the southeast 65 per cent. The northwest region has 63 per cent combined, the northeast 58 per cent and the east-central 52 per cent.

Ninety-seven per cent of the lentils and field peas, 94 per cent of the durum, 78 per cent of the barley, 77 per cent of the spring wheat, 52 per cent of the canola and 35 per cent of the flax has now been combined. An additional 36 per cent of the canola is swathed or ready to straight-cut.

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Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

Video: Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

When was the last time you read the label on your honey?

We spent a day at Molenkamp Honey Farms with Michael Molenkamp, who has been keeping bees for 17 seasons and runs three to four thousand hives. In mid-September, he was finishing treatments and getting his bees ready for winter, and he walked us through how Alberta honey gets made.

Alberta has just 150 commercial beekeepers running 300,000 colonies, and together they produce 40% of Canada’s honey. Long summer days and golden canola fields give Alberta honey a light flavour that’s hard to match anywhere else.

Molenkamp calls Alberta beekeepers some of the most resilient farmers he knows. There’s plenty of Alberta honey to go around, but a lot on our shelves isn’t from here, so his ask is simple. Give the label a second look and choose honey made by Alberta beekeepers, or buy straight from a beekeeper near you.