Did the Edmonton area finish?

[Hamloc]

A very wet snowy day in central Alberta with more in the forecast. Just wondering how the harvest finished up in the area around Edmonton? My understanding is that Mother Nature hasn't been very co-operative in your area.

[crusher]

My area is pretty much wrapped up, north east edge of Edmonton. Been helping a buddy by Athabasca the last ten days when we could roll. Combines going hard up there, still some acres left but got there second dump of snow this fall, another 4 inches.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

As of Friday I know of one producer in the Wetaskewin area who had not yet started harvesting barley or canola. started raining here on Sunday evening, snowed today, and lots of snow in forecast, they didn't expect to get done.

[ajl]

East of Edmonton did not quite get finished. The odd field of canola is still out mainly due to green seed. Lots of 5% green around as many farmers harvested not quite cured fields of tough canola end of last week. Grain dryer search is on.

[woodland]

AJL the search for dryers is/has been very tough this fall for us as well. We finished Sunday at midnight and quite a few did as well. There's still some acres out but a fraction of what was last year. We're putting in three miles of water line now that should have been done already but the harvest took priority. It's going to be a battle with the forecast and still having grain to dry and cows to feed. It's going to take a couple of years to fix the damage to the fields after the last two years.

We are so unprepared for freeze up which is any day but light years ahead of a year ago when we only got half the crop off.

[ajl]

Biggest dryer problem is finding canola screens. Over the weekend a pile of canola was taken off with 5% green and 14 to 16 moisture. This is going to need to see a dryer soon. Last year the canola was damp but was cured so no green. Big difference.

[Guest]

AJL the search for dryers is/has been very tough this fall for us as well. We finished Sunday at midnight and quite a few did as well. There's still some acres out but a fraction of what was last year. We're putting in three miles of water line now that should have been done already but the harvest took priority. It's going to be a battle with the forecast and still having grain to dry and cows to feed. It's going to take a couple of years to fix the damage to the fields after the last two years.

We are so unprepared for freeze up which is any day but light years ahead of a year ago when we only got half the crop off.

we have been there lots woodland , glad you got done . the surprising thing is how fast it can turn around . last fall we got to about 80% done with lots of fields rutted one end to the other 2 feet deep . nothing harrowed or fertilized . my brother said nothing would grow in those ruts for a couple years . well we went out in mud and lumps the size of your head and juiced and harrowed ahead of the drill . some fields had to be worked twice . I was convinced that nothing would grow in that ugly seedbed but we got a couple timely rains before rain stopped completely for about 90 days . in the end we grew one of the best crops our farm has ever grown . it was an eye opener . some years you do everything perfect and nothing works . good luck with the rest of it and hope it turns for you also . many on here have no idea what real mud is , just think they do . until you have lived it , you can't imagine

[AlbertaFarmer5]

CaseIH, same experience here this year. I simply seeded through the ruts this spring, still pure mud, way too wet to perform any type of field work. Very uneven /poor germination, 2 more big rains right after seeding, no more rain all summer, nonstop flea beetles, 3 hail storms(only hail, no rain) And it worked. Some drowned out completely, the lighter soils were mediocre, but the goldilocks ground did so well, that averages were quite respectable. Most surprising thing was comparing the canola yield to the population, no correlation. The places where most plants drowned out, and far less than 1 plant/foot survived, we're often tremendous, thin spindly stands might have 10+ plants per foot.

Canola and barley yeilds still well off of last 2 years, but my expectations were so much lower than that, I'm still pleased.

Nearly got seasick combining across the ruts though.

[blackpowder]

All done here with < week to spare. Drying finished and putting shit away in the cold and snot.

Speaking of canola and dryers.
Others and myself were spitballing getting a dryer together as I have access to hp gas and 3 phase.
Reccomendations? Thanx.

[Guest]

All done here with < week to spare. Drying finished and putting shit away in the cold and snot.

Speaking of canola and dryers.
Others and myself were spitballing getting a dryer together as I have access to hp gas and 3 phase.
Reccomendations? Thanx.

sure like superB, friend just bought a new gsi , loves it

[woodland]

we have been there lots woodland , glad you got done . the surprising thing is how fast it can turn around . last fall we got to about 80% done with lots of fields rutted one end to the other 2 feet deep . nothing harrowed or fertilized . my brother said nothing would grow in those ruts for a couple years . well we went out in mud and lumps the size of your head and juiced and harrowed ahead of the drill . some fields had to be worked twice . I was convinced that nothing would grow in that ugly seedbed but we got a couple timely rains before rain stopped completely for about 90 days . in the end we grew one of the best crops our farm has ever grown . it was an eye opener . some years you do everything perfect and nothing works . good luck with the rest of it and hope it turns for you also . many on here have no idea what real mud is , just think they do . until you have lived it , you can't imagine

Thanks caseih.

As I was telling my wife we never got any field work or spraying done after harvest this year and still are trying to trench in three miles of water line but I feel we are light years ahead of last year when we were still combining, baling, and chopping silage till mid December.

My expectations for this years crop were 0 so everything was a bonus. Every bushel has or will go through the dryer yet. We get to deal with crop insurance on our barley and canola since they were under our coverage and the grades are pathetic too. We've never claimed before so that'll be another new experience of which there have been many already.

Looking forward to next year already and at least the cattle prices are up (haven't sold the yearlings yet) and still have mountains of feed so it isn't all bad.



Just moved one bunch of pairs to some alfalfa regrowth by myself and a bale this morning.

[woodland]

All done here with < week to spare. Drying finished and putting shit away in the cold and snot.

Speaking of canola and dryers.
Others and myself were spitballing getting a dryer together as I have access to hp gas and 3 phase.
Reccomendations? Thanx.

This year we had the dryer unable to keep up and the wet grain ended up in bins other than the wet bin which was/is a bunch of extra work. We only have one dry bin which we cool in as well. I would recommend at least two bins for wet and two for dry/cool as well. More if the budget permits 😉

As for dryer suggestions..... make sure it's a new one that way there's another used one for me to choose from when we upgrade. My budget means I pick from the well used stuff on kijiji or Ritchie's and bubblegum it together. 👍