CHINOOK, Alta. – Growing grain in the heart of Alberta’s special areas is not a game for the faint of heart.
With an annual average rainfall of about 200 millimetres, the hilltops in some areas are as adept at producing cactii as they are at producing wheat.
But if you ask cereal and oilseed producer Charles Schmidt, there is no better place in Alberta to grow a crop. In an average year, yields are relatively low but so are production costs and land prices.
Read Also
Geopolitics can change trade routes
WHISTLER, B.C. — Today’s geopolitical tensions could have dire long-term consequences, says the director of international policy at the University…
And if the land is managed properly, the only wild card left is the weather.
“This is the land of opportunity,” said Schmidt, who is holding a full house this year on his farm near Chinook.
“I’ve heard guys say that it’s probably one of the hardest places to farm in Alberta because we’re more prone to drought and we’re more prone to different weather situations … but in the end, if I didn’t think we could make it here, I wouldn’t have seeded a crop this spring.
“If I didn’t figure we could make it, I would have pulled the pin a long time ago and I’d be pumping gas for Husky.”
Schmidt’s optimism appears to be warranted.
The 2010 crop is still a long way from the bin but barring frost or another unforeseen disaster, the harvest could be a memorable one.
Since April 1, Mother Nature – normally stingy with moisture in this area– has dealt out roughly 550 mm of rain.
In May, the fields were so wet that Schmidt had to postpone seeding.
He eventually got the entire crop in, but development is at least two weeks behind normal.
Spraying was also a challenge.
In an area better known for dust and grasshoppers, this year’s predominant concern was mud.
Schmidt’s high clearance sprayer got bogged down on more than one occasion this spring and for the first time in memory, some roads in the area were under water.
Crops, meanwhile, got an exceptional start and are loaded with potential.
“I may be a little bit biased but I think we’ve probably got 50 bushel wheat and maybe 70 or 80 bu. barley on some of our fields,” said Schmidt, who runs the family farm with his wife, Elfrieda, and sons Brian, Jason and Bradley.
“Last year, our best wheat might have gone 25 bu., our mustard probably averaged about 12 and barley might have gone 20, so we’ re extremely pleased with production this year.”
According to Schmidt, the Chinook area produces a big crop about once every 10 to 15 years.
In 1999, the Schmidts had similar yields but two or three years after that, the area was in the middle of another prolonged drought and farmers paid a heavy price.
In 2002, Schmidt combined 1,500 acres and reaped 4,000 bushels.
A year or so later, after the discovery of BSE knocked the bottom out of Canadian beef markets, Schmidt took a calculated gamble and got out of cattle. He sold his herd and a significant chunk of grassland to focus exclusively on grain.
Today, he has about 12,000 acres in production, about 9,800 of which are under cultivation.
Of that, about 5,500 acres are seeded each year and more than 4,000 acres are chemfallowed.
Schmidt has tried continuous cropping but the economic benefits are negligible. Chemfallow adds an extra level of security.
“We’ve become very adept at water conservation,” he said.
“That’s the key to our whole management system is to conserve every ounce of potential moisture.
“In a year like this, sure, you could seed more land and it would have worked, but what about next year?
“With the moisture reserves I’ve got (on chemfallow), I’ve already got a 75 percent chance of growing a reasonably good crop next year. So to me, chemfallow is like an insurance policy.”
With an outstanding 2010 crop just a few weeks from the bin and 2011 shaping up well, Schmidt concedes that his options are opening up.
In anticipation of a big harvest, he has already bought a second combine and is renting a grain cart, a move that will allow him to keep his trucks on higher ground and away from wet spots.
He’s also making arrangements to ensure the farm has adequate manpower. Odd as it seems, one of the biggest challenges facing farmers in the special areas this fall could be finding adequate storage space.
“A crop like this comes along once every 10 or 15 years,” said Schmidt, whose grandparents settled in the area in the 1930s. “We’re not the best farmers by any means, but we try to do a lot of things right.
“We’ve tried to have a consistent fertility program. We use micronutrients for germination establishment and plant growth. We’ve done a lot of subsoiling … to shatter the solonetzic layer and bring up calcium into our growing zone, and chemfallow is obviously a big part of our operation.
“What’s most satisfying about a year like this is to see all the different processes that we’ve tried … are working. We’re looking at 50 bushel wheat crops and 80 bushel barley and this is Chinook. We’re not talking Lacombe, we’re talking Chinook. A year like this proves that it can be done.”
