Crops in the region that haven't been hit by recent hail are looking at good potential yields, says a provincial crop specialist.
“Those who haven't been hit by hail are pretty good. But don't forget that the county of Mountain View is one of the worst hail areas in the world,” said Harry Brook, crop specialist at the Alberta Ag-Info Centre at Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development.
However, Brook also noted that canola crops are flowering early when they should be fully podded at this point.
“So if it's in full bloom, we're going to need a very long extended fall without frost and good weather to get that crop to mature to the point where you can harvest it,” he said.
In general, he said that early seeded crops are faring better than those sown later in the seeding season.
This summer also saw the incidence of stripe rust and cereal crop diseases.
Brook said that so long as farmers have preserved the flag leaves of their crops, their yield potentials are still safe.
“There might be some problems with the filling of the heads in cereals and the wheats. It might have some impact on bushel weights but its onset was fairly late,” he said about the diseases.
If farmers are thinking about applying a fungicide, they should check the pre-harvest interval on the spray, which tells the minimum amount of time that must be left between application and the harvest.
According to Brook, there isn't any time left.
“As far as the diseases are concerned, it's too late to spray just about anything on it. The plants are already headed.”
