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Alberta crop development delayed

July 20, 2015 - A crop statistician at Alberta Agriculture says that crop development in the province has been delayed due to the hot and dry weather.

“Alberta’s main crops, spring wheat, barley, oats and canola currently range between 63 and 74 per cent poor to fair condition, and only 26 to 37 per cent in good to excellent condition,” says Lukas Matejovsky. "When you compare that to the five-year average, those numbers are about 50 per cent below average.”

Matejovsky says conditions vary between regions of the province with a better outlook in the southern regions (mainly due to irrigation). The dry conditions are having the most impact in areas of the province that are contained within the northwest region, which includes Barrhead, Leduc, Edmonton, Athabasca and Drayton Valley.

As of last week, most crops are reaching the reproductive stage of their development.

For more details, or to see crop report information on specific regions, go to www.agriculture.alberta.ca/cropreport.

July 20, 2015  By Top Crop Manager