Harvest comes early

Times Contributor 

 

An early harvest is kicking up dust in the fields of Wheatland County and local farmers may be done before the harvest moon rises on Sept. 23. 

Lukas Matejovsky, Crop Statistician for Alberta Agriculture, states that a 10 per cent increase of completed harvests occurred in the last two weeks, with Southern Alberta the furthest along, with 44 per cent of cereal crops harvested.

The Desmet family farms 1,550 acres of land in this region. 

“We have fortunately finished up combining. We were growing wheat, barley and canola of course. We have been pretty fortunate this year with diseases. I think everyone has started to use fungicide considering the wet year we have had for growing crops,” said Taggart Desmet.

Yields are anticipated to be better than the 10 year average. Second cuts of hay are 90 per cent done, with yields about average. 

Many canola crops are still standing at $11 a bushel. Producers in this area are watching to see if their investments pay off.

“Canola is a good crop to grow because it is a good rotation crop and will limit or cut down on diseases. The bugs haven’t been bad, but some people will still spray for them. The weather has been real good, other than a few rains we have had. It was pretty hot a few days, which causes some of the canola to dry faster the usual, but shouldn’t have hurt it too bad.  Obviously, the price per bushel helps too, but it is an expensive input crop as well,” said Desmet.

Don Vander Velde farms 945 acres off the 22X and he also planted canola, agreeing that the investment should outweigh the cost. He is watching the weather in hopes work is done in the field before the weather turns or early frost hits.

He also has 50 breeder cows and is considering what he might do with them. 

“You lose about $200 a head when you take them to auction and then you take another $200 out of your pocket on top of that,” said Vander Velde. 

With finishing calf prices high, many farmers are uncertain cattle investments are currently their best option, which may mean higher beef prices for our tables.

Vander Velde said it is also getting harder to maintain a family farm. According to national statistics the average age of Alberta farmers is 54. The pressure is on for younger generations to work off of the farm, in places like the oil industry, to take advantage of the excellent wages. There was a 12.5 per cent decrease of Alberta farms in production in 2012 according to federal statistics, greater than the national average and a disturbing continued trend overall.

In his 30’s, Desmet is one of the few in his generation that decided to stay on the farm and take up the family craft. 

He said that instead of folding or utilizing commercial crop services, the tradition of farmers helping farmers in this area is still strong.

“We are working with our neighbours sheathing and helping them with their harvest. I think it works better that way, with the price if machinery and the cost of production it only makes sense unless you are a big operation,” said Desmet.