Glacier Farm Media | MarketsFarm — Spring planting in Alberta entered the home stretch with overall progress at 90 per cent seeded as of May 27, the province’s agriculture department reported. Provincewide, the pace put Alberta farmers nine points above the five-year average.
Southern Alberta remained furthest along with planting reaching 97 per cent finished, advancing 10 points on the week. The northwest climbed 20 points, reaching 93 per cent done, followed by the central region at 89 per cent seeded on a gain of 16 points. The province’s northeast reached 86 per cent in the ground, up 22 points and the Peace leapt forward 23 points at 84 per cent complete.
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By major crop, the planting of Alberta’s dry peas was virtually finished at 99 per cent, with the spring with at 97 per cent. Barley followed at 89 per cent done, the canola at 83 per cent and the oats at 74 per cent.
Provincewide crop emergence improved 26 points over the week, hitting 57 per cent. By region, the central was at 65 per cent, Peace at 64 per cent and the south at 62 per cent. Lagging behind were the northeast at 46 per cent and the northwest at 42 per cent.
As for surface soil moisture, the province was at 56 per cent good to excellent, down eight points from the previous week. The crop report noted that dry winds were largely responsible for the declines.
When it came to subsoil moisture levels, most of Alberta saw declines except for the central region which was up three points at 80 per cent good to excellent. A distant second was Peace at 52 per cent good to excellent but dropped 17 points on the week. The Peace was third at 50 per cent, the northeast at 41 per cent and the south at 39 per cent. Overall, the province was at 53 per cent.
