SEXSMITH, Alta. – Harvesting tough, poor quality crops that are frozen into the ground or sprouted in the swaths is so common in the Peace River district that farmers are still amazed at the perfect harvest weather this year.
Franklin Moller of Sexsmith, Alta., began harvest Aug. 20 and finished Sept. 5, the earliest he’s been done harvest in 25 years.
“This is the best harvest weather we’ve ever had,” said Moller, standing in the field as two combines picked up the last few swaths of canola for the year.
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“I can’t remember having this run of harvest without rain.”
The long run of dry weather made for ideal combine conditions and for the first time ever, the Peace River area farmer is harvesting No. 1 quality wheat.
He’ll need No. 1 prices to make up for the average yield. The season started well with plenty of moisture, but the grain quit growing in July when the rains stopped and the temperatures soared.
“It dried right up in July. We needed one more rain to make a difference,” said Moller.
Scott Moeller, grain co-ordinator for Louis Dreyfus elevator in Dawson Creek, B.C., said the dry weather, especially in the British Columbia Peace River area, ruined hopes of a decent harvest in his area.
“It’s a disaster,” said Moeller, whose company has been forced to entice grain from as far away as High Level in northern Alberta to keep the product coming into the elevator.
He estimates most area farmers received less than half the normal yield this year. With little rain, most of the harvest was done by August. The elevator will soon switch from buying canola to taking in wheat at the request of farmers reluctant to sell canola at low prices.
Hubert Bourbeau of Demmitt, Alta., near the Alberta-B.C. border, said with less than 130 millimetres of rain this season, it’s one of the poorest crops he has harvested.
“I’m going to combine it, but it’s pretty sad looking stuff,” said Bourbeau, who stopped in his oat field to tighten a chain on his swather. He wants some oats for seed next year and a little for feed this winter.
“It’s a very poor crop.”
Wilf Schoorlemmer of Rycroft, Alta., estimates he is about half finished his harvest. Like other farmers, Schoorlemmer is taking off good quality grain, but only half the normal yield.
Despite that, Schoorlemmer has more grain than bins and is filling long heavy plastic bags for temporary, inexpensive storage.
“It’s impossible to have the right amount of grain storage,” said Schoorlemmer, who with the help of his son Landon was filling the long plastic bags.
Each bag costs about $650 and holds between 10,000 and 11,000 bushels of grain, he said.
Gord Heck of Fairview, Alta., is faced with a similar problem. With more grain than storage, the family decided to take feed wheat harvested two years ago out of the grain bins to pile on the ground. The No. 1 wheat from this year will go into the bins.
“It’s excellent quality and average yields,” said Heck, who estimated they had five more days of harvest left for the year.
“You couldn’t wish for better harvest weather.”
The combines have run steadily for 14 days. The last time he can remember the good run of harvest weather was 1999, when they finished harvest at the end of August and he went whitewater rafting on the September long weekend.
