Overall, the consistently wet weather has had a detrimental effect upon crops in Mountain View and Red Deer counties, say agricultural services officials from the two counties.ìCool, wet weather has slightly delayed crop development, although recent warmer weather has helped,î said Jane Fulton, agriculture services manager for MVC.Some of the major crops that have been planted within the county are canola, wheat, barley, oats and peas, she said.ìSpotty hailstorms have caused some crop damage in select areas in the county.îAlthough Fulton said the moisture in most areas is not excessive, and has not caused much crop stress, wetter conditions are generally more favourable for crop diseases.In Red Deer County, the problem is a similar one, said Cody McIntosh ñ cool, damp weather is hindering speed of growth and favouring diseases.ìIt's a slow growing season. It looks like everything is a little far behind ñ probably at least two weeks ñ from where we should be,î said McIntosh, the county's assistant agricultural manager.ìWhat we need now is some heat to really get things going. I think we've had wet a bit too long, and some of the crops are pretty drowned out.ìI've actually had a pretty good look at the crops in the area,î said McIntosh last Wednesday, explaining he was out west of Innisfail at the time.ìI'm looking at a lot of canola out this way. Some of it looks kind of patchy,î McIntosh said.He said much of the low-lying crops were drowned, while the portions on hills looked much better.ìI think we'll have fair-to-good crops this year. With a little less water and a little more heat they would have been bumper crops.îOne of the main challenges farmers are contending with because of the excess moisture is the tall buttercup, a noxious weed in both counties.ìIt likes the pastures, the low-lying areas, and trees,î said McIntosh. ìIt really exploded this year, and that is in fact due to all the moisture.îRegularly farmed or cultivated areas (like canola or barley fields, for example) don't typically have tall buttercup weeds, because it prefers the unbroken ground of pastures.Herbicide is generally the only way to control these weeds, but it's been too wet to spray, said McIntosh.ìGuys would get stuck if they went out spraying,î he said.Fulton said grazing livestock tend to avoid eating the tall buttercup because of the bitter, noxious oil they contain (which causes blistering), allowing the weed to spread quickly throughout pastures.Mountain View County (as well as a handful of surrounding counties) has elevated the wild caraway weed to noxious status ìdue to its ability to infest and displace favourable vegetation,î Fulton said.McIntosh said although Red Deer County does have a wild caraway problem, the plant has not yet been elevated to a noxious status.ìIn Red Deer County we promote removing it, but we really don't have any teeth to eliminate it. We haven't elevated it, so we have no legislation to support us.îThe status of wild caraway in Red Deer County may soon be elevated to noxious, though McIntosh said he suspects the problem in Red Deer isn't currently as bad as in Mountain View.To assist producers with the control of tall buttercup and wild caraway, Fulton said the Agricultural Services Board is offering free pasture sprayers and a 20 per cent rebate on registered herbicides labelled for the control of these weeds.
