CNS Canada –– Alberta farmers who could have used wet conditions earlier this year now have rain slowing their harvest progress.
However, the biggest issue producers in the province face is field variability, according to Harry Brook, a crop specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry in Stettler.
“It truly is a mess out there — the worst is probably the canola.”
Brook said he has seen fields with two to four stages of growth in one area.
“You’ve got stuff that’s dead ripe, and stuff that’s still flowering.”
Read Also
Senft to step down as CEO of Seeds Canada
Barry Senft, the founding CEO of the five-year-old Seeds Canada organization is stepping down as of January 2026.
As for harvest progress, Brook said it can be summarized in one word: “slowly.”
Over the past week, the province has been cool and damp, with little wind to help dry fields. Wetter conditions have kept producers off fields, but also have the potential to impact wheat quality, said Brook.
A lack of warm weather could also weigh on crop quality.
It’s debatable whether early-seeded crops will be able to mature enough to be harvested properly, Brook said, adding that he has seen a significant amount of immature fields.
“Anything that was seeded early will be hurt the worst, because some of the later-seeded crops now are actually looking really good.”
Southern parts of the province are 55 per cent done harvest, far outpacing central Alberta at 14 per cent, the northeast at 25 per cent, northwest at 22 per cent and Peace region at 25 per cent, according to the province’s most recent crop report, released last Tuesday.
On a crop-by-crop basis, dry peas are near done at 91 per cent; canola lagged at just 13 per cent, and spring wheat in the province is 38 per cent harvested.
— Jade Markus writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting. Follow her at @jade_markus on Twitter.
