Seeding Ahead Of Schedule

May 13, 2022

Spring seeding in Alberta is ahead of the 5-year average for this time of year.

According to the first crop report of the new season, most of the seeding is taking place in southern regions of the province, which are still waiting for rain. As of May 3rd, according to the government report, just over 12 percent of seeding was completed across the province. 36.5 percent of that was in southern regions, just under 6 percent in central areas with the rest of the province reporting less than 1 percent completed.

Soil moisture in southern areas of the province is the big factor right now with 31 percent rated poor, 28 percent fair, and 40 percent good. With the lack of moisture and the cool temperatures, there's very little growing in pastures, meaning ranchers still need to depend on feed to keep their cattle fed until there's some green grass in those fields. Some farmers have even started irrigating annual crops in southern Alberta. There was some light snow in areas of western Alberta over the weekend and in the Drumheller area overnight between Sunday and Monday. Despite the cold weather on the weekend, farmers in central Alberta started seeding. One farmer around Legal, north of Edmonton tweeted "It's May 8th,time to get going".

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.