Another dry year for farmers here in the Foothills as harvest is starting to get underway.

Ag Fieldman for Vulcan County, Kelly Malmberg, says he had hope for at least an average crop of wheat, barley and field peas this year.

"I know I've looked at some crops I didn't think were too bad and when you start taking the head off and grinding it in your hand, and look, there isn't a lot of seed there. You know there's going to be some there, but I think of lot of seeds were aborted because of that heat. So, I don't think we're going to see to stellar a cereal crop this year."

Malmberg says the canola crops might be around average this harvest, but he says everything else he's seen is below average.

Malmberg, says it's been a particularly bad year for Barley.

"Most guys were cutting for green feed. There's not a lot of hay this year. Silage was a premium this year, I know some of the feedlots were trying to source out as much barley as they could get their hands on. So, at best it's going to be average to below average. The only good thing is commodity prices are looking pretty solid. I know Canola's running around $11/bushel right now and good protein wheat was jumping over $8/bushel."

Malmberg says cattle producers may get hit hard with low hay yields this year pushing bails up to $250/tonne.

 

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