Crop report for this area West Central alberta. I haven't been much farther afield than that lately.
One extreme to the other. After getting a foot of rain from the 5th of June till early July, it shut off completely I think we've only had an inch and change in the last 35 + days. With nothing in the forecast. But we're not getting the extreme heat we got last year either.
Starting to hear some mumblings about not having enough moisture to finish the crop. Not worried about it on any of my own heavy clay land. But I just went by some of my late barley on gravel, and it is starting to burn up in a few small areas. The Green feed next to it is really burning up fairly large areas.
Incredible comeback from the excess water. I have barley just now heading in some of the worst drowned areas. Don't know how it held on this long. Canola is finally shutting down flowering in some places. But the low areas which looked completely dead for a month are just getting into full flower. Still very uneven with quite a lot of thin patches and complete drought outs but at least it looks good from the road now when you can't see into the canopy anymore. Can't even guess what the yield might be yet. Without an early Frost it could still be some very good yields, probably not as good as last year though. With an early Frost it won't be good quantity or quality. Seeing a few aster yellows poking through now. Lots of the early pods didn't make anything, stress from the excess water apparently. And a few blanks from the heat.
Not really looking forward to another November canola harvest which seems to be the case when it is still flowering in the middle of August around here.
Wheat is getting a little bit of a later tinge to it now. I'm seeing a few random plants turning yellow and dying very prematurely, all tillers on the same stem at the same time. What would that be? We were spoiled last year when the wheat actually behaved the way it is supposed to according to the textbooks. All tillers out at the same time and all heads emerged at the same time. But this year is back to normal when it just keeps tailoring long after the first heads are out. Should be good for some very tough harvesting conditions and light bushel weight.
Earlier seeded cereals in the area are turning quickly with the recent heat.
Pastures not coming back with much enthusiasm now. Alfalfa regrowth looks impressive, grass hay not very much coming back. Was pleasantly surprised how fast all the sloughs dried up. Haying all the same areas I hate during last year's drought and they're just about as dry. I assume the credit goes to the water table still being exceptionally low from the drought last year.
Hoping the law of averages applies and it stays hot and dry till at least November to make up for the cold and wet this spring early summer. The results won't be good if it freezes early or gets cool or wet.
One extreme to the other. After getting a foot of rain from the 5th of June till early July, it shut off completely I think we've only had an inch and change in the last 35 + days. With nothing in the forecast. But we're not getting the extreme heat we got last year either.
Starting to hear some mumblings about not having enough moisture to finish the crop. Not worried about it on any of my own heavy clay land. But I just went by some of my late barley on gravel, and it is starting to burn up in a few small areas. The Green feed next to it is really burning up fairly large areas.
Incredible comeback from the excess water. I have barley just now heading in some of the worst drowned areas. Don't know how it held on this long. Canola is finally shutting down flowering in some places. But the low areas which looked completely dead for a month are just getting into full flower. Still very uneven with quite a lot of thin patches and complete drought outs but at least it looks good from the road now when you can't see into the canopy anymore. Can't even guess what the yield might be yet. Without an early Frost it could still be some very good yields, probably not as good as last year though. With an early Frost it won't be good quantity or quality. Seeing a few aster yellows poking through now. Lots of the early pods didn't make anything, stress from the excess water apparently. And a few blanks from the heat.
Not really looking forward to another November canola harvest which seems to be the case when it is still flowering in the middle of August around here.
Wheat is getting a little bit of a later tinge to it now. I'm seeing a few random plants turning yellow and dying very prematurely, all tillers on the same stem at the same time. What would that be? We were spoiled last year when the wheat actually behaved the way it is supposed to according to the textbooks. All tillers out at the same time and all heads emerged at the same time. But this year is back to normal when it just keeps tailoring long after the first heads are out. Should be good for some very tough harvesting conditions and light bushel weight.
Earlier seeded cereals in the area are turning quickly with the recent heat.
Pastures not coming back with much enthusiasm now. Alfalfa regrowth looks impressive, grass hay not very much coming back. Was pleasantly surprised how fast all the sloughs dried up. Haying all the same areas I hate during last year's drought and they're just about as dry. I assume the credit goes to the water table still being exceptionally low from the drought last year.
Hoping the law of averages applies and it stays hot and dry till at least November to make up for the cold and wet this spring early summer. The results won't be good if it freezes early or gets cool or wet.
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