Harvest in the province could be wrapped up by the end of this weekend, but the delay in getting crops off the field is creating a quality and delivery crunch.
Photograph by: Leah Hennel, Calgary Herald
CALGARY - Harvest in the province could be wrapped up by the end of this weekend, but the delay in getting crops off the field is creating a quality and delivery crunch.
Wet conditions and frost have meant fewer crops are making the higher grades and that, coupled with a delay in getting those crops to the elevators, is affecting what’s available to ship.
“The late harvest has caused some difficulty in terms of getting (crops), especially the quality that’s needed, out into the delivery system,” said Bruce Burnett, the Canadian Wheat Board’s director of weather and crop surveillance. “The late harvest has starved the regular system. Usually by the middle of October the harvest is done, the elevators are full.”
The wheat board Monday asked that farmers deliver number 1 and 2 Canada western amber durum “where possible” because with the late crop “grain deliveries have not kept up with customer demand.”
“It’s probably more a timing issue right at the present moment,” Burnett said. “The harvest has been late, farmers are busy doing other things, other than delivering grain into the elevator. That’s causing the logistics system to start to need certain commodities.”
He estimates the durum harvest in particular was six to eight weeks behind normal this year.
Harvest is 93 per cent complete across the prairie provinces, Burnett said, with only Manitoba completely finished at this point.
Rod Scarlett, executive director of the Wild Rose Agricultural Producers, said there seems to be bumper crops of number 2 and 3 and feed wheats, with strong yields in most areas of the province but lower grades because of early frost.
“There are some number 1 wheats out there, but a lot of guys haven’t really taken it in yet to check what they have,” he said. “More people are concerned with trying to get things off than worried about testing what they have.
“And they may not have the capacity to deliver right now because all the equipment is in use.”
Wet and cool conditions from spring right through to the end of September saw crops delayed by weeks this year.
The recent snow in some parts of southern Alberta may have slowed down the final harvest push, Scarlett said, but isn’t nearly as problematic as September’s rain.
kguttormson@calgaryherald.com
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