Prairie crops in trouble

Crops are not faring well in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

“Conditions are deteriorating in both provinces,” said MarketsFarm analyst Bruce Burnett.

Crops in southern and central Alberta and western Saskatchewan are in particularly rough shape because of drought.

Burnett is especially concerned about Canada’s durum and lentil crops, which are primarily grown in those areas.

There are good crops in eastern Saskatchewan and Manitoba, but even in those regions yields will be down from last year and closer to the long-term average.

“We are looking at a below-average crop,” he said.

Derek Squair, president of Exceed Grain Marketing, agreed with that assessment.

In Alberta, anything north of Red Deer is generally doing well and everything south is mostly in bad shape.