The weather cooled down this week and ended with snow stretching from the foothills right over to the Red Deer area.
Harvest operations are virtually complete with 99% of the crop in the bin, well ahead of the five and ten year averages, any remaining acres will be a challenge to harvest and may be grazed.
Yields vary but are reportedly above the five and 10 year averages.
Grades are also variable, yet higher than the norm on a provincial level, with hard red spring wheat grading 87 per cent and durum 97 per cent in the top two grades, 43 per cent of barley is malt grade while 51per cent is grading 1CW. Oats are reported at 59 per cent in the top two grades, 89 per cent of canola is 1 Canada while 85 per cent of peas are 1 and 2 Canada followed by 12 per cent at 3 Canada.
Soil moisture reserves vary greatly across the province with areas in the Central, North West and Peace regions experiencing one-in-50-year lows, while other areas in the North East and Peace are experiencing one-in-25-year highs.
Southeastern Alberta was very dry this summer, but the September rains helped to improve conditions.
Overall, producers are looking for some good snow cover to help replenish the soil moisture reserves for the Spring.
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