Hot, dry weather across Alberta over the past week has sped up harvest and dried down crops quickly, giving producers a solid jump in progress — but at the cost of rapidly depleting soil moisture reserves. Provincial harvest of major crops is now 22% complete, a 14-point jump from the week prior. That’s slightly ahead of both the five-year average of 21% and the 10-year average of 17% for this time of year. Regional harvest progress of major crops: South: 33% complete (+13 from last week) Central: 16% (+13) North East: 18% (+14) North West: 24% (+18) Peace: 20% (+12) Peas and cereals led the charge. Dry pea harvest is 77% complete, spring barley is 29%, spring wheat is 26%, and oats are 17%. Canola, usually the last crop off, is just 3% harvested, though 28% of fields are already swathed. Moisture Ratings Sliding While the heat is ideal for harvest, it is taking a toll on soil reserves. Surface moisture: 45% rated good to excellent (down 12 points from last week). Sub-surface moi
Canadian all wheat stocks as of July 31 were down from a year earlier and the lowest on record as 2024-25 exports ran hot. According to a Statistics Canada grain stocks report released Tuesday, total nationwide all wheat stocks as of July 31 – ending stocks for the 2024-25 crop year – amounted to 4.112 million tonnes. That is down more than 22% from 5.278 million a year earlier and just slightly below the previous July low of 4.169 million notched in 2022, in records dating back to 1980. July 31 durum stocks were reported at 496,000 tonnes, down almost 26% on the year and a new low as well. All wheat commercial stocks as of July 31 were down about 10% to 2.397 million tonnes, while on-farm stocks fell by more than one-third to 1.715 million. Deliveries of wheat rose 9.1% year over year to 35.2 million tonnes as of July 31, Statscan said. Total wheat exports rose 15.4% to a record 29.2 million tonnes on strong global demand, “possibly due to lower exports from other major wheat
Canadian barley stockpiles as of July 31 were a bit heavier compared to a year earlier, while oats stocks were markedly lighter. Tuesday’s Statistics Canada stocks report pegged July 31 barley stocks at 1.249 million tonnes, up 8.4% from the previous year’s stocks of 1.152 million and the highest for the date since 2017 at 2.122. Meanwhile, July 31 total oat stocks fell 24.3% from a year earlier to 507,000 tonnes, the lowest since July 2022 at 333,000. StatsCan attributed the rise in total July 31 barley stocks to heavier on-farm inventories, which were estimated at 994,000 tonnes, up 13.2% from a year earlier. Barley stocks in commercial hands declined, falling to 255,000 tonnes from 273,000 the previous year. Deliveries of barley off farm decreased 6% to 4.1 million tonnes as of July 31, while exports fell 7.2% year over year to 2.8 million tonnes, StatsCan said. Barley used largely for feed purposes fell 2.6% to 5.1 million tonnes. For oats, commercial stocks rose 3.4% to 24
Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald is going to have to produce results, an ag policy analyst says
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