Alberta sees relief with thunderstorms, lower temperatures in recent crop report

Alberta is seeing some good conditions in the lead-up to harvest season, as reported by the province's most recent crop report.

In that, the province details that it received widespread thunderstorms which brought much-needed moisture across the province. The storms also helped lower temperatures to the mid to high 20s across all regions.

The rainfall provided relief for stressed crops that have gone through prolonged periods of high temperatures.

Later-seeded crops are now expected to meet yield expectations thanks to the rain which will also promote growth in parched hay and pasture fields.

Heat stress during July has caused crops to mature ahead of historical averages for this week, being led by spring wheat and barley which are reported as in the early stages of dough development, and oats at the late stages of milk development.

Provincial crop condition ratings continue to decline slightly from the previous week by 3 per cent. Currently, 46 per cent of crops in Alberta are in good or excellent condition, compared to the 5-year average of 56 per cent.

Surface soil moisture rated as good to excellent in Alberta is 40 per cent, a weekly increase of 7 per cent. regionally,the highest increase was in the north west with a 26 per cent gain.

Sub-surface soil moisture also had a good week with good to excellent ratings reported as 30 per cent, which is a 3 per cent improvement from the previous week.

Pasture conditions have been deteriorating since the beginning of July with hot and dry conditions with a provincial good to excellent rating of 40 per cent, which is 2 per cent lower than last week.

Provincial tame hay also slightly suffered with 34 per cent rated good to excellent, slightly down from last week’s 36 per cent