Canada Markets

Alberta Trims Crop Ratings on Hot, Dry Weather

Cliff Jamieson
By  Cliff Jamieson , Canadian Grains Analyst
Connect with Cliff:
A combination of excessive heat and a lack of moisture has lead to a sharp reduction in the Good-to-Excellent rating across all crops in Alberta, falling from 74% on Aug. 12 to 67.4% as of Aug. 19. This chart shows the trend in Good to Excellent ratings for the entire crop in 2014 (blue line) as compared to 2013 (red line). (DTN graphic by Nick Scalise)

Friday's release of Alberta Agriculture's crop report showed a sharp reduction in crop ratings with a combination of heat and lack of moisture taking its toll in the North West and Peace River regions of the province.

Unlike the excessive moisture received over the south-central and eastern regions of the Prairies, the north western region along with the Peace River region is showing the April 1 to Aug. 24 precipitation to have received mostly 60 to 85% of average precipitation. This is according to Agriculture and Agri Food Canada charts for the region extending from Red Deer to Edmonton and north to High Level. One region from Grande Prairie to Peace River is reported to have received 40 to 60% of average precipitation since April 1.

The week-over-week reduction of the Good-to-Excellent rating for the province's crop has seen the Good-to-Excellent rating fall from 74% to 67.4% in the most recent week as seen on the attached chart, with the largest drops seen in the North West region, falling 10.3% to 73.2% and the Peace River region falling 8.2% to 43.9% Good to Excellent.

P[L1] D[0x0] M[300x250] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]

By crop, canola rated the lowest of the crops, at 65.6% Good to Excellent, but also faced the largest week-over-week decline of 7.9%. Provincial canola ratings range from 79% G/E in the North East, to 41.2% in the Peace Region. On Aug. 12, the provincial canola crop was pegged at 38.4 bushels per acre by Alberta Ag, above the province's five-year average of 37.64 bpa (2009 to 2013). Last week's Statistics Canada report pegged the provincial crop at 35.5 bpa, as compared to the 43.7 bpa estimated for 2013. Current 2014 estimates could prove overstated, given the damage to the crop seen during August which has lead to the sharp declines in ratings.

Spring wheat and barley ratings are both reported below 70% G/E, with spring wheat at 68.3% G/E and barley at 67.3%. The highest ratings reported are seen in oats at 70.8% G/E and peas at 72.4% G/E.

Less than 1% of the provincial crop has been harvested as of Aug.19, with 5.1% of the major crops swathed.

Cliff Jamieson can be reached at cliff.jamieson@dtn.com

Follow Cliff Jamieson on Twitter @CliffJamieson

(ES)

P[] D[728x170] M[320x75] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]
P[L2] D[728x90] M[320x50] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]

Comments

To comment, please Log In or Join our Community .