CNS Canada — Alberta’s dry weather and cooler nights have hit some crops in the province hard, but one specialist says he isn’t worried yet.
Neil Whatley, a crop specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry in Stettler, said only some parts of the province have seen rain.
“There’s no general rain, just showers. Where there’s showers crops are doing OK. Where there has not been showers, the crops are not doing so well.”
Conditions have been drier than normal, but it’s too early to panic, as June is one of Alberta’s rainiest months, he said.
Cold nights in previous weeks slowed canola crops down, keeping them in the ground for several weeks and causing flea beetle insecticides to wear off.
“When the plant did come through the flea beetles went after it,” Whatley said. “There has been some reseeding because of that.”
— Jade Markus writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.
