Cha-freakin'-ching! My crops look fantastic after losing my winter wheat and reseeding with barley.
10-15 days until I start harvesting. I can't wait.
it also means fill your gas tank, as always fuel prices will rise for harvest.
CALGARY - If the frosts stay away, Alberta farmers could be set to reap some of the biggest harvests this province has ever seen.
Statistics Canada — which interviewed 15,000 farmers across the country between July 24 and August 5 — predicted Wednesday that Alberta will hit a record 9.4 million tonnes of wheat production in 2013, an increase of 12 per cent over last year and 36 per cent higher than the average annual production over the last three decades.
While canola production in the province is expected to fall just short of the 2011 record of 5.3 million tonnes, this year’s projection of 5.2 million tonnes is a 5.6 per cent increase over last year and more than double the annual average over the last three decades.
The higher production estimates are driven by predictions of better yields. Last year, early hopes for a bumper crop were dashed somewhat by blazing heat and disease problems, but so far this year, growing conditions have been good.
“I’m cautiously optimistic,” said Lee Markert, who farms in the Vulcan area. “But the last couple of years I thought I had a monster coming — and don’t get me wrong, the crop has been good, but it wasn’t the crop I thought it was going to be. Still, I’m optimistic that it’s going to be a good crop.”
The profitability of farming has improved greatly in recent years due to strong prices for grains and oilseeds. Five years ago, canola prices were about $6 a bushel — today, they’re hovering just over $11 a bushel.
Rick White, general manager of the Canadian Canola Growers Association, said better prices are spurring higher production of all commodities — and canola is no exception. The Statistics Canada report says that nationwide, canola production could hit an all-time high of 14.7 million tonnes in 2013.
“I think there’s a lot of excitement around that, not only from a growers’ perspective but the entire industry as well — the crushers and all the infrastructure, the handlers and the railways,” said White.
Still, every farmer knows that projections are just that until the crop is in the bin.
“Between now and the end of harvest, we still have one and a half or two months. It depends on what’s going to happen. We don’t want to see frost, we don’t want to see hail,” said Lukas Matejovsky, an economist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development.
In a fall weather preview released Tuesday, AccuWeather forecasters said they’re expecting an early autumn for Alberta with temperatures in the Calgary region averaging one or two degrees below normal.
That’s concerning for Markert, who said he won’t start harvesting for at least another week and a half.
“That threat of frost does start to creep into the back of your mind,” he said. “But I think we’ve positioned ourselves well. We took a lot of steps this year to mitigate any disease threats that might be rearing their ugly heads, and we’ve been able to dodge hailstorms so far, for the most part. So now it’s just kind of wait and see how much pours into the tank.”
10-15 days until I start harvesting. I can't wait.
it also means fill your gas tank, as always fuel prices will rise for harvest.
CALGARY - If the frosts stay away, Alberta farmers could be set to reap some of the biggest harvests this province has ever seen.
Statistics Canada — which interviewed 15,000 farmers across the country between July 24 and August 5 — predicted Wednesday that Alberta will hit a record 9.4 million tonnes of wheat production in 2013, an increase of 12 per cent over last year and 36 per cent higher than the average annual production over the last three decades.
While canola production in the province is expected to fall just short of the 2011 record of 5.3 million tonnes, this year’s projection of 5.2 million tonnes is a 5.6 per cent increase over last year and more than double the annual average over the last three decades.
The higher production estimates are driven by predictions of better yields. Last year, early hopes for a bumper crop were dashed somewhat by blazing heat and disease problems, but so far this year, growing conditions have been good.
“I’m cautiously optimistic,” said Lee Markert, who farms in the Vulcan area. “But the last couple of years I thought I had a monster coming — and don’t get me wrong, the crop has been good, but it wasn’t the crop I thought it was going to be. Still, I’m optimistic that it’s going to be a good crop.”
The profitability of farming has improved greatly in recent years due to strong prices for grains and oilseeds. Five years ago, canola prices were about $6 a bushel — today, they’re hovering just over $11 a bushel.
Rick White, general manager of the Canadian Canola Growers Association, said better prices are spurring higher production of all commodities — and canola is no exception. The Statistics Canada report says that nationwide, canola production could hit an all-time high of 14.7 million tonnes in 2013.
“I think there’s a lot of excitement around that, not only from a growers’ perspective but the entire industry as well — the crushers and all the infrastructure, the handlers and the railways,” said White.
Still, every farmer knows that projections are just that until the crop is in the bin.
“Between now and the end of harvest, we still have one and a half or two months. It depends on what’s going to happen. We don’t want to see frost, we don’t want to see hail,” said Lukas Matejovsky, an economist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development.
In a fall weather preview released Tuesday, AccuWeather forecasters said they’re expecting an early autumn for Alberta with temperatures in the Calgary region averaging one or two degrees below normal.
That’s concerning for Markert, who said he won’t start harvesting for at least another week and a half.
“That threat of frost does start to creep into the back of your mind,” he said. “But I think we’ve positioned ourselves well. We took a lot of steps this year to mitigate any disease threats that might be rearing their ugly heads, and we’ve been able to dodge hailstorms so far, for the most part. So now it’s just kind of wait and see how much pours into the tank.”