Northern regions of the Province are in need of some hot, dry weather for their harvest, but these temperatures are no where to be seen in the long term forecast.

The North East, North West, and Peace regions are far behind the 5 year average in their harvest progress for this time of year.

As of last Tuesday, about 32 percent of the North East region has been combined compared to their five year average of 60.5 percent. The North West is 14.4 percent complete combining, behind their five year average of about 52 percent, and the Peace region is about 40 percent complete their harvest, with a five year average of about 70 percent.

Mark Cutts, Crop Specialist with the Ag Info Centre, says they are behind because of this year's cool weather in areas, and last year's harvest.

"What we're seeing there, is with the fall we had last year, where harvest was delayed and many acres in those areas were not able to be completed, then harvesting of those crops was completed this spring, and seeding was late. Also, Conditions this summer in some areas were wet and cool."

There is still time for these regions to get their harvest completed, Cutts says.

"It's not uncommon to get a lot of combining done in October, so hopefully this weather event we're having here at the beginning of the month settles out, and we get back to some normal temperatures, or even some above average temperatures for a while, and get the crops dried out again. Hopefully, combining will start to progress again."

As for the rest of the Province, Southern Alberta is essentially done for the year, and Central Alberta is making good progress compared to their five year harvest average.

For a full look at Alberta Agriculture and Forestry's crop report, you can visit their website.


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