Farmers racing to get crops into the ground

Farmers annual race against cold fall weather has already begun.

Another cool spring has delayed seeding and slowed germination, said Harry Brook, an Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development crop specialist at the departments Ag-Info Centre in Stettler.

Looking at the calendar, a lot of these crops like the wheat and the canola its getting to the later end of their traditional seeding time where you can be assured that itll have enough heat units to mature, said Brook.

The later it gets, the greater the risk is that youre going to get hit at the other end with a killing frost before the plant is totally mature.

The past few weeks have seen a big push by farmers to get their crops in, said Brook, who estimates that seeding in the region is about 50 to 60 per cent complete.

For a lot of Central Alberta, its really caught up a lot. Soils have warmed up, and the fact is, people just cant wait.

Getting seed into the ground is no guarantee of a timely crop, however. Plants may be slow to germinate and grow when the soil is cold.

Its still too early to panic, said Brook, pointing out that crops got off to slow starts the past several years but escaped severe frost damage. Last years harvest even generated a record haul.

Were definitely behind, but then again, whats normal?

Despite this springs cool conditions, there hasnt been a lot of precipitation in most areas, noted Brook. Accordingly, crops will need rain over the next few weeks.

Read this article:
Farmers racing to get crops into the ground