Recent rain and snow in Alberta have ensured farmers in the province will have enough soil moisture to plant a crop, said Alberta Agriculture’s soil moisture technologist.
“No area doesn’t have enough moisture for seeding and germination,” said Joe Michielson of Lethbridge.
“Generally the entire province is out of the very low zone and into the low moisture zone,” said Michielson. He samples 250-300 stubble fields across the province each year to develop a detailed soil moisture map.
Michielson will have to resample some locations after more than 60 centimetres of snow fell near Calgary and Rocky Mountain House.
Read Also
Canola oil transloading facility opens
DP World just opened its new canola oil transload facility at the Port of Vancouver. It can ship one million tonnes of the commodity per year.
“West of Olds was hit pretty hard but they needed it,” he said.
The recent snow should push areas south of Calgary, near High River, from the high to excessive soil moisture category.
Michielson takes samples of soil to depths of 120 cm to get a good profile of the soil down to the root zone.
He will be travelling to the Peace River region and northeastern Alberta over the next two weeks to take samples from those areas.
At this time last year, soil moisture conditions were very poor across much of the province. The summer went on to be the driest in 130 years.
“It’s a much better situation than last year,” said Allan Howard, Alberta Agriculture’s provincial soil moisture specialist.
The most recent snow and rain fell through central Alberta where it was needed the most.
“It hit a lot of areas we were concerned about,” said Howard.
Even eastern Alberta received variable amounts of precipitation, which will help crops to at least germinate.
Howard said some areas near Coronation and Wainwright and from Westlock to Athabasca need more precipitation.
In Saskatchewan, topsoil moisture conditions across the province are generally adequate, said Terry Karwandy of Saskatchewan Agriculture.
Topsoil moisture ranges from surplus in the south and parts of central Saskatchewan to short in the northwest. But even in the northwest it’s better than last year, she said.
In Manitoba, recent rain has also improved soil moisture conditions in that province.
Bruce Murray, soil agrometeorologist with Manitoba Agriculture, said soil moisture conditions are “sitting pretty good” for spring planting.
Conditions range from a little too much in areas of the south to areas in the northwest and Interlake that are still of concern and will need continued rain to establish the crop.
