Wet summer problematic for some Alberta farmers

Some areas have seen double the normal amounts of rain

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

Some farmers in Alberta are concerned that too much rain may have fallen in the province.

"Most of the province is struggling with too much of a good thing. We all like to see rain but most of the province has had too much rain and too much of it has come in late August when we would rather have nice, dry weather so we can be harvesting," Allison Ammeter, a farmer from Sylvan Lake, told CBC.

Ammeter said too much moisture can affect the crop’s quality.

“At the beginning of August most of us thought we had some really excellent quality, now I am hearing average quality.”

Kevin Auch, chairman of the Alberta Wheat Commission, said since farmers were able to start growing early, producers could have an average crop.

“We are all wanting to get into the fields and get harvesting but we are being delayed at various points in our harvest,” he told CBC. “And you know the crop is getting mature and getting ready to go and when we get rain at that time of year, it doesn’t help us any. All it does at this point is, it reduces our quality.”