Alberta Seeding of Major Crops Approaching 60% Complete

Despite significant precipitation in parts of the province last week, Alberta producers still had almost 60% of major crops in the ground as of Tuesday.

While many farmers welcomed the rain, some areas reported light snow, hail or near freezing temperatures. Sun and warm weather are needed across the province for the crops to reap the benefit of the recent moisture.

For seeding progress of major crops, dry peas are furthest ahead with 82% complete, while oats are the slowest at 36% complete.

Regionally, the most progress is in the Peace Region with 71% complete followed by the South Region with 71% complete. The region with the most left to seed remains the North East Region with only 42% done.

For all crops, 21% have emerged, 6% ahead of the 5-year average as growth conditions have been moist and favourable for emergence, however, continuously wet soil and cool ground temperatures could hurt plant development.

Following the trends of seeding progress, emergence is furthest ahead in the South at 35% emerged followed by the Central Region with 23% emerged. All other regions are below 15% emergence.

The majority of fall seeded crops in the province are rated in good to excellent conditions except in the Peace Region where it has been reported that some fall seeded crops were tilled up due to poor plant counts, and re-seeded.