Grain harvest under threat from snow, rain

Grain harvests in Alberta and Manitoba are threatened by unusual weather conditions, just as farmers prepare to harvest.

In southern Alberta, the problem is snow, which has flattened crops and left the ground saturated. In western Manitoba, the problem is rain, with a wet summer and flooding in some areas followed by heavy downfalls this autumn.

• Manitobans scramble as higher dikes needed against flood
• Alberta snow bad news for farm crops ahead of harvest

Farmers in Alberta say they need a good 20 days of sunny, dry weather to get their crops in shape to harvest in the wake of the snow.

Matt Sawyer, who runs a family farm with his father just north of Calgary, estimates he got about 10 per cent of his crop in before the snow hit.

We brought down whatever crops we could to try and prevent the damage but when that storm hit, it flattened anything that was standing and completely broght everything to a halt and now were looking at quality issues on all the crops, says Sawyer, who grows wheat, barley and canola.

Sawyer said he saw the forecast for snow and was able to bring about 400 acres of malt barley, but the quality of his wheat and canola are threatened by the wet conditions and the frost that followed the snow.

If it dries out quick enough, maybe well be able to salvage some of the quality on what is left, he said in an interview with CBCs As It Happens.

Sawyers said he doesnt remember ever seeing a snowfall this early in the year its usually late October before theres a risk to crops.

The crop quality may suffer or farmers may be unable to harvest unless there are improved conditions.

Across Alberta, only about 19 per cent of the crop has been harvested, according to Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. The south, central and northwest regions are all affected by frost and moisture issues.

For the majority of the province, the quality of crops still standing will largely depend on receiving warm, dry weather, without a killing frost or more precipitation, over the next few weeks, the government department says in its more recent crop report.

In Souris, Man., farmer Walt Finlay says his combines are sitting idle because there is no way of working on his wet fields.

A heavy rain earlier this week turned the ground to gumbo, following on flooding earlier this spring.

"There is nobody is in this immediate area that has combined anything," Finlay told CBC News.

Keystone Agriculture Producers estimates at best farmers across the region are only five per cent into a harvest that should be wrapping up.

A soggy harvest season means farmers will be rushing to buy and install grain dryers, the farm advocacy group says in a notice to farmers.

The danger is that the Office of the Fire Commissioner will not be able to approve use of the dryers before the crop spoils, it says.

Farmers have been hit hard this season with flooding, drought and now a very wet harvest. The last thing we need is for our lower-than-average yields to spoil, KAP president Doug Chorney said.

Rainfall and cooler temperatures are slowing the harvest across most of Manitoba, according to the latest report from the province`s agriculture department. It is also affectingcrop quality in some winter wheat, spring wheat, oats and barley fields.