Farmers fret over snowfall, delayed harvest and damaged crops

Some Alberta farmers are concerned about their crops after a late-summer snowfall blanketed parts of the province, with more flurries expected in the forecast.

Early season snow can squash crops that grow upright, like wheat and barley, make them harder to harvest and decimate their quality, leaving farmers with a less valuable product.

Greg Sears has been growing canola, wheat, barley and peas north of Grande Prairie, Alta., for about a decade and recently had 15 centimetres of snow covered his crops, pushing down his cereal and canola and freezing anything that wasn’t fully mature yet.

“It’s just going to be a long, slow harvest from here on in — even if we do get some really nice weather,” he said.

The area needs warm, windy weather to dry the crop, Sears said, adding the current ground conditions will make it hard to get equipment on the land.

That difficult harvest comes after wildfires in B.C. this year created additional pressure with the drifting smoke slowing down the crop development, he said.

The neighbouring province saw thousands of square kilometres of woodland charred by more than 2,000 wildfires since April.

In addition to slowing the harvest, the snow likely deteriorated the crop quality.

Sears hoped his barley would go to a malt beer brewing market, but now expects it’ll land elsewhere for a lower price. He anticipates about $100 an acre less in revenue.

His wheat will likely fall from milling-grade, which is for human consumption, to animal-feed quality, he said. The pea crop will suffer on two fronts, he said, expecting a quality and yield reduction.

“It’s not unusual, but it’s not common” to see this type of weather in September, said Kevin Bender, chairman of the Alberta Wheat Commission, an industry group working to boost Alberta wheat’s profile.

He’s farmed primarily wheat and canola, as well as barley, oats, peas and some other crops for about three decades near the town of Bentley, north of Red Deer.

“We’re still white here now,” he said of the results of Wednesday evening’s snowfall. He will have to wait for the snow to melt and dry before harvesting.