Dry conditions have Alberta farmers worried — but province says there's no cause for concern

Despite seeing promising crop yields this year, there's a heightened sense of pessimism among Alberta farmers as the harvest season wraps up.

Farmers said that barley and wheat crops were great, but the excessive heat and above-average temperatures over the summer created issues for other crops, like canola — and it's leaving them worried for the year ahead.

"The crop utilized every ounce of moisture that was in the soil this year to produce what we got and our farming practices helped us produce what we have," said Larry Woolliams with Airdrie-based Woolliams farms. 

"But there is zero reserve."

Rains in June had given farmers hope that the precipitation would help restore some of the soil moisture — but that hasn't held. 

After finishing harvest on Oct. 2, which is significantly earlier than normal, Woolliams says he's looking toward next year, but isn't sure how things will play out. 

Woolliams is hoping for more rain and snow in the coming months to help replenish surface water supplies and soil moisture reserves for next year.

According to the province, harvest progress is ahead of the five-year average.

Ralph Wright with the Alberta Climate Information Service says there's no cause for concern as conditions vary across the province.

"The plants have used everything up to this point and now we've got several months to hopefully get it back closer to normal," said Wright.

According to ACIS, lower soil moisture reserves are typical this time of year and many areas haven't seen appreciable rebounds in soil moisture just yet.

Wright said there's plenty of time to replenish both soil moisture and surface water supplies for fields and pastures in those areas that need it.