After a bitter cold spring followed by an encore of near record snowfall, Alberta producers are feeling optimistic as they see green pastures and replenished dugouts.
“Dugouts are full and the grass is growing like crazy,” said Castor area farmer Beth Elhard.
After three years of record drought, the situation in east-central Alberta appears to have turned itself around as her husband Richard finishes seeding oats and barley.
The area had good winter snow cover, and two blizzards in May jump started cropland and pastures.
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“By the time it was all done, our dugouts were running over,” she said.
Conditions may look better than they actually are, say some agricultural fieldmen.
Voracious grasshoppers are already hatching in a wide area.
Last year, hungry hoppers ate their way through most of the region, chewing down cropland, pastures and home gardens.
Nymphs are already hatching in northeastern and east-central districts.
Clear-winged and two-striped varieties have been reported in pockets throughout the northeast, said agriculture fieldman Dion Burlock of the County of Vermilion.
Grasshoppers are usually not a problem in the area.
Some growers sprayed the pest last year, but most are watching this spring’s situation before making decisions about control.
Some reports of fungus-infested nests have come in, but the situation is still serious, said range specialist Lorne Cole at Hanna.
“Even half of what we had last year will still be in biblical proportions,” Burlock said.
In addition to grasshoppers, there is enough standing water to provide nesting space for mosquitoes.
Besides insects, eastern Alberta has low soil moisture reserves because of several years of drought.
This has taken its toll on hay and tame pastures across the province. Cool temperatures in May slowed some regrowth, so half the pastures are rated as good or excellent while the rest is considered fair or poor.
Recent rainfall that greened the province is not necessarily indicative of range health, especially in the eastern hardpan soil zones, Cole said.
Feed shortages forced many people to send cattle to pasture sooner than normal. Under careful management, the grasslands will not be overgrazed if producers remember to provide rest during the late June growing period.
“A lot of the pastures are green too soon,” Cole said.
“I’d prefer to see them brown for awhile.”
Brown thatch indicates carryover in a well-managed range.
While winterkill does not appear to be a problem, there are patches of tame pasture that have been killed by drought.
“The plants had no energy to get them through winter,” he said.
Overall, the most recent Alberta government moisture report rated 50 percent of the growing area in excellent condition.
This covers most of southwestern Alberta, particularly regions west of Highway 2.
However, there remain some areas to watch, particularly in northeastern Alberta and far northern reaches to High Level.
