Canada Markets

Alberta Planting Makes Strides

Cliff Jamieson
By  Cliff Jamieson , Canadian Grains Analyst
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Alberta's 2020 planting pace of all crops (black line) took a big leap during the week ending May 19 to 61.8% complete, slightly ahead of the five-year average of 59.2%, but behind the 72.6% reported this time last year. (DTN graphic by Cliff Jamieson)

Like Saskatchewan, Alberta made major strides in planting progress during the week ending May 19, jumping from 20.7% complete to 61.8% complete during the seven-day period.

The average planting progress for all-crops shows a week-over-week jump of 41.1 percentage points, a bigger jump for this week than seen in any other year in the last five years, while the five-year average shows a 27.7-point jump for this week.

The most progress was achieved in the Central Region and the Northeast Region, with 46.5% and 46% of the regions' acres seeded over the week, respectively. The Southern Region is the furthest ahead at 81.8% of all acres seeded, with 34.7% of the region's area seeded during the past week. The furthest behind is the Peace Region, with 32.6% of the region seeded, increasing by 25.4 points over the past week.

Relative to the average pace, three regions are ahead of their respective average pace, ranging from 5.4 points ahead in the south to 12.7 points ahead in the Central Region of the province. The Northwest Region is 10 points behind average and the Peace Region is 17.2 points behind average.

By crop, 68.1% of the spring wheat (65.2%), 84.4% of the durum (77.8%), 50.1% of the canola (49.8%), 57.4% of the barley (52.5%), 33.1% of the oats (33.8%) and 77.1% of the peas (78.6%) are reported seeded as of May 19, with the five-year average for this week in brackets.

Progress will slow in the current week, with AAFC's Accumulated Precipitation as of May 21 showing widespread rains across most of the province, although amounts may be limited in the Northeastern Region and the far northern areas of the Peace Region. Periods of rain and chances of showers are forecast to continue through May 22-23.

AAFC's Percent of Average Precipitation chart for the April 1-through-May 21 period shows the most rainfall relative to average in the Northwest Region as well as an area of the Southern Region, where small areas have realized more than 200% of average precipitation and a larger area in each region has received 150% to 200% of normal precipitation.

Cliff Jamieson can be reached at cliff.jamieson@dtn.com

Follow Cliff Jamieson on Twitter @Cliff Jamieson

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