With harvest just around the corner, farmers in the Westlock region will be the first to tell you it hasn’t been a great year in the fields, but it hasn’t got to the point where an agricultural state of emergency needs to be declared either.
Excessive rain and overland flooding in Lac Ste. Anne County, west of Edmonton, led to that municipality declaring an agricultural state of emergency Aug. 8. Even though Westlock County has experienced many similar conditions, it hasn’t quite got to that point locally.
“Producers are experiencing a difficult growing season with the high moisture levels, difficult haying and silaging process with the rains and wet fields. The crop land is showing signs of moisture stress although the last weeks of drier weather has alleviated some of this. Things are looking up and farmers are hopeful for the upcoming harvest,” Westlock County said in a statement last week.
Rain, hailstorms and even a light frost have hindered producers around the province this year.
“As a result of frequent rain, cool temperatures and lack of sunlight over the last month, soil moisture ratings are now reported at 11 per cent good, 50 per cent excellent and 39 per cent rated excessive,” stated the latest crop report from Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, referring to the north west region of the province which includes Westlock, Barrhead, Athabasca, Drayton Valley and Leduc.
“Pasture growing condition deteriorated from July, but are still in good to excellent condition. About 14 per cent of pastures are rated as fair, while 36 per cent are good and 50 per cent are excellent,” the crop report went on to say.
The regional crop ratings as of Aug. 13. Westlock is located in the north west region.
In the case of the municipality declaring an agricultural state of emergency, the agricultural services board (which consists of all members of Westlock County council) would make the recommendation.
They would be guided by the answers to several questions covering the area of the county affected, if all agriculture was affected, or just certain commodities, whether local AFSC data has been used to assess the level of impact experienced by producers, whether the municipality has reached out to producers to discuss the impacts, and whether the municipality has the data to support the decision.
The farm report from the province goes on to state, “Crops in parts of the region with excessive moisture have deteriorated with roots rotting and disease pressure increasing.
Yield potential is impacted by wet conditions, but varies depending on the field topography, soil type, seeding date and the actual rain the crop received.
Hailstorms in the first week of August hit some fields in the region.”
As a result, haying operations in the region have been delayed, with only 29 per cent of first cut hay complete, compared to the five-year average of having 93 per cent complete by this time of the year. There are also some hay fields that were cut, but are not yet baled due to the moisture. This hay is rotting in the fields.
“It has been a difficult four years for our farmers, excessive moisture, early snowfalls and late springs, the smoke from last summer, have all taken a toll. Fields are seeing some relief these last few weeks and some haying is being completed although the hay has lost considerable quality as it ages or if its sitting in swaths and rotting. Farmers are gearing up for the upcoming harvest,” said the statement from Westlock County.
