The Alberta harvest made just modest progress over the past week, remaining well behind the normal pace for early September.
Friday's weekly crop report showed 10% of the province’s major crops (spring wheat, oats, barley, canola and peas) had been harvested as of Tuesday, up 6 points from a week earlier. Progress remained well below both the five-year average of 23% and the 10-year average of 17%.
The South remained furthest along at 27% complete, advancing 12 points from the previous week. Central Alberta jumped 10 points to 12%, while the North East reached 2%, the North West 1% and the Peace Region 3%.
Dry peas continued to lead individual crops, with 53% now in the bin, up 26 points on the week. Harvest was especially advanced in the South at 76% and Central region at 65%. Barley harvest climbed 12 points to 20% provincially, including 39% complete in the South and 21% in Central Alberta.
Spring wheat harvest reached 6%, up 5 points from the prior report, with the South at 15% and Central region at 5%. Oats were 1% harvested provincially, while canola harvest remained just underway at 1%, including 4% complete in the South.
Warm weather helped accelerate fieldwork during the week, although scattered precipitation continued across portions of the province, the report said.
Meanwhile, Alberta’s surface soil moisture situation remained considerably stronger than normal. Provincially, 56% of surface soil moisture was rated good to excellent, 18 points above the five-year average of 38%.
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