Canada Markets

In what could be a sign of what's to come, Parkland County west of Edmonton, Alberta, voted unanimously to declare a state of agricultural disaster, with a lack of moisture contributing to damage to both crops and pastures, while further crop damage has been realized as a result of grasshopper infestations. The process of declaring this disaster brings awareness to the situation while may qualify the county for both provincial and federal financial aid.

It's ironic that this news comes as the city of Chestemere, just east of Calgary, has reported that it has applied for financial assistance after receiving approximately 9 inches of rainfall in two hours on Sunday morning, which flooded some 300 houses along with business.

The attached graphic shows Alberta Agriculture's soil moisture reserves relative to long-term normal moisture as of July 7, with the bright-red and dark-red shadings indicating a once-in-25-to-50-year event and a once-in-50-year event respectively.

The northwest region of Alberta is facing the toughest conditions in the province. The June 30 Alberta Crop Report showed surface soil moisture at 67.9% poor, 27.9% fair and 4.3% good. The impact to the crop is harsh, with only 17.9% of the region's spring wheat rated good to excellent, along with 12.5% of the barley, 13.6% of the oats, 8.5% of the canola and 15.8% of the peas. While the ratings by crop region were not provided in the July 7 abbreviated report, the overall good-to-excellent rating for all crops in the province slipped a further 3 percentage points to 27%.

Comparisons have been made between the current year and the last major prairie drought faced in 2002, a year when Environment Canada named the prairie drought the "worst weather story of the year."

As of June 25, 2002, Alberta Agriculture's provincial ratings pegged cereals and peas at 35% good to excellent, while the canola crop was rated at 20% good to excellent. It's difficult to make comparisons, as a wet fall hampered the Alberta harvest in 2002 with half of the crop left to harvest as of the last crop report released Oct. 15. Alberta's 2002 spring wheat production was pegged at roughly 2.6 million metric tons, down 50.7% from the previous year and 57% below the previous five-year average. The province's canola crop was estimated at 1.225 mmt, down 26% from the previous year and 46% below the previous five-year average.

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

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(AG)

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