Seeding is essentially complete in the Central Zone of Alberta.
That according to the latest Crop Report from Alberta Agriculture and Forestry and Rural Economic Development and Alberta Financial Services Corporation (AFSC).
The report indicates that 67 per cent of crops have now emerged. This is said to be one of only two regions where emergence is ahead of the five-year average.
Canola estimates show 56 per cent in the cotyledon stage and peas are 76 per cent in one-to-three node stage.
Post-emergent application has just started with five per cent of acres now sprayed. Pest infestations are minimal with only gophers (seven per cent) and flea beetles (one per cent) being reported over threshold.
Surface soil moisture (sub-surface moisture in brackets) are said to be much more favorable than in the South. Ratings are 18 (17) per cent poor, 36 (38) per cent fair, 43 (40) per cent good and 3 (5) per cent excellent.
Pasture conditions are 80 per cent fair to good and tame hay is 83 per cent fair to good. Officials say this is largely comparable to this time last year when those ratings were 87 per cent and 83 per cent respectively.
Over the past eight days, the vast majority of Alberta cropland received less than 15mm of precipitation, with the drier South region reporting negligible to 10mm. A large portion of Central and South regions have six-month precipitation conditions from ‘low’ to ‘driest’, indicating precipitation shortfall frequencies of between once in six years to once in 50 years. Dry conditions in the South continue to be a key risk of the crop report for the province.
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