Rain Delays Canadian Prairie Harvest, Threatening Crop Quality
Wet fields across Canada's Prairies have stalled harvest progress, raising fears of quality downgrades that could cut farm incomes.
Farmers across Canada's western Prairies are contending with persistent rain that has left fields saturated and harvest operations far behind their usual pace, threatening the quality of what had been a promising crop.
Rob Stone, a farmer in Davidson, Saskatchewan, said his cereal crops had been top grade before the wet weather set in at the end of August. He now expects downgrades that could reduce prices by 30 cents to a dollar per bushel, a loss he estimated could exceed C$100,000 on his operation.
By the second week of September, Stone had harvested less than a quarter of his 4,300 acres of wheat and 3,000 acres of canola. Normally his wheat harvest would be finished by then and he would be well into his canola.
His situation is common from Alberta to Manitoba, the region that produces most of Canada's spring wheat, canola, durum and pulse crops. Saskatchewan's agriculture department reported that only 27% of the crop had been harvested by September 7, compared with a five-year average of 58%. In Alberta, about 21% was finished by September 8, against a five-year average of 43.5%.
Statistics Canada is due to release its first crop production estimates on Wednesday, but analysts note that rain damage occurred after the agency's analysis was carried out.
There is still time to bring in the crop, as snow and frozen soils are not usually expected until late November. However, each additional day in damp fields raises the risk to wheat and durum, whose quality is critical for millers and other processors and determines the prices farmers receive.
Rain can wash away colour and weight from cereal grains, while some kernels may sprout and mould and fungus can spread internally. Adam Carter, a wheat breeder at the University of Saskatchewan, warned that such damage is not always visible to the naked eye.
Farmers were already concerned that a warm and humid July would lead to disease infections, and earlier damage may now be compounded by late infections. Crops across Canada had looked generally healthy and large heading into harvest, leaving growers focused on salvaging what remains.
"You accept bad weather when you're a farmer, but it sucks to see it on so many acres," Stone said.