After weeks of no harvest progress, farmers in Alberta were able to get back into the fields and make significant harvest progress over the last week, according to the provincial crop report released Oct. 26.
The Alberta harvest is now 78 percent completed as of Tuesday, Oct.23, jumping up 28 percent from last week. The north east and north west regions both increased by 11 percentage points to 79 percent and 67 percent, respectively. The southern region is now 85 percent combined, the central region is at 75 percent and the Peace River region at 76 percent done.
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Looking at individual crops, 82 percent of the spring wheat crop is now in the bin. The barley crop is 78 percent combined, oats are at 72 percent, canola at 70 percent and dry peas at 96 percent done.
Higher temperatures and warm winds combined to help in the harvest progress by drying fields down. However, the fields that were flattened by snow are proving to be difficult to pick up and are slowing down harvest. In the crop report the government said some of these crops may end up baled or grazed.
Soil moisture levels have improved due to the precipitation received throughout September and into October. Sub-surface moisture is now rated at 39 percent good, up four percentage points from the previous week.
