It’s the kind of growing season farmers like Gary Stanford hoped for. Stanford, who lives in Magrath, has been farming all his life. It’s been a long wait to see how his 2020 crops would turn out.
“This is like some of the best crops we’ve had around southern Alberta for a long time,” said Stanford.
It all comes down to timing. Doon Pauly, an agronomy research scientist with Alberta Agriculture said the area had rains at just the right time, giving the crops the boost they needed.
Mother nature hasn’t been so kind in the past. Standford said many farmers in the South have been battling drought conditions for several years, but this good growing season will get many back on track.
“When it kept raining all of June and July it took a lot of pressure off of us. The hay crops are very good, the grain crops are doing really well, the cow pastures are doing very well, it takes a lot of pressure off you so we are excited to make a little money this year,” he added.
Harvest is right on schedule for a normal season with some crops ready for swathing and others already getting combined. The good conditions in southern Alberta should mean high crop quality.
“I suspect we will see better than normal yield,” added Pauly.
The season is just beginning so Standford is reminding other southern Albertan’s to be patient when seeing farm machinery on the highway travelling from field to field.
“Don’t try and pass us at the wrong time, watch for the slow moving signs,” he said, adding, “We cant go real fast with our equipment, we will only be on there for a short period of time and get out of the way or we will pull off in intersections to let you by — but please be patient and lets keep everybody safe for harvest.”