LAKELAND – The 2024 harvest season in the region has wrapped up, with producers reporting below average yields.
County of St. Paul Reeve Glen Ockerman said heat in July had a significant impact on crop performance, leading to lower-than-expected results this season.
“There’s some places where [yields] are a little bit better,” but overall yields are below average, he said, including some of the crops that matured later in the season.
“It wasn't consistent all the way through.”
Looking ahead to the next growing season, Ockerman said producers in the area are expressing optimism, hoping for an improvement in commodity prices to help offset rising costs of production.
He explained present grain prices make it challenging to cover increased production expenses. “Equipment’s moved up, lands moved up, input costs are huge, and we’ve seen our commodity prices go down,” he said.
“Everybody's looking and hoping throughout the winter here, and towards spring . . . so these guys can start paying their bills,” he added.
A good, snowy winter, and a strong snowmelt in the spring will help replenish water sources in the region, Ockerman explained, and also help improve land sustainability.
In a Nov. 6 statement, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation RJ Sigurdson also said there were mixed results across the province for crop yields this year. Alberta’s central and northeast regions saw below average yields, while the south, northwest, and Peace regions were slightly above average.
The grade of crops also showed mixed results, he said. Oats and dry peas performed well, with higher-than-average grades.
But other staples like spring wheat, durum, barley, and canola did not fare as well, grading lower than the five-year average.
“Farmers faced many challenges over the last few years and, for some areas of the province, 2024 was a difficult growing season,” said Sigurdson.
“But Alberta producers are innovative and resilient. They work constantly to meet challenges head-on and drive sustainable growth in our agricultural sector.”