Glacier FarmMedia—Growers in Alberta made plenty of seeding progress during the week ended May 28, but progress was still a bit behind historical averages.
Major crop planting in Alberta advanced 19.6 points at 77.3 per cent, 6.4 points behind the five-year average and 4.4 points behind the 10-year average. While a pair of regions did not seed half of their acres by May 21, all regions were at least 70 per cent finished as of May 28. The Peace region made the most progress at 86.2 per cent, with southern Alberta at 83.6 per cent. Central Alberta was 75.5 per cent complete, the North West was at 71.6 per cent and the North East was at 70.7 per cent.
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Alberta crop conditions improve: report
Varied precipitation and warm temperatures were generally beneficial for crop development across Alberta during the week ended July 8, according to the latest provincial crop report released July 11.
Dry pea planting was 93.8 per cent finished in Alberta as of May 28, with the North East region at 99 per cent. Spring wheat seeding was 88.7 per cent complete province-wide, while barley was at 72.2 per cent. Canola had two-thirds of its acres seeded, while oats were at 56.4 per cent.
Meanwhile, crop emergence doubled from the past week to more than 40 per cent, slightly ahead of the five- and 10-year averages.
Much of the province saw light scattered showers during the week, only amounting to a few millimetres. Some areas around the Rocky Mountains in the North West and Central regions received 30 to 40 mm.
Despite the rain, surface soil moisture slightly declined across Alberta, but was still above historical averages. The province was rated 77.6 per cent good to excellent, above the 64.3 per cent five-year average and the 66.2 per cent 10-year average. The North East region was rated the best at 91.1 per cent good to excellent, while the Peace region was the worst at 64.3 per cent.
For sub-surface soil moisture, Alberta was rated at 66 per cent. The best rating was found in the Peace region at 82 per cent despite a five-point decline from the past week, while the worst rating was in South region at 55 per cent.
Provincial pasture growth conditions improved two points to 70.1 per cent good to excellent, more than 19 points ahead of the five-year average. The best rating was in the Central region at 83.9 per cent good to excellent, while the Peace region was at 40.2 per cent. Tame hay growth conditions were rated at 68 per cent good to excellent across Alberta, three points more than the week before. The best rating was in the Central region at 85 per cent good to excellent, while the worst was in the Peace region at 41 per cent.
