Northern Alberta wheat farmers optimistic

Northern Alberta wheat farmers are optimistic that this year's crop will be good despite the difficulties being experienced by farmers to the east and south.

Unusually high levels of spring rainfall in southern Alberta, Manitoba and most of Saskatchewan have resulted in the lowest number of seeded wheat crops in 40 years.

Henry Vos, a grain farmer from Peace River, Alta., and the director of the northern Alberta district of the Canadian Wheat Board, said the soggy conditions may drive up wheat prices and benefit northern Alberta farmers.

"We've seen substantial increase in oat prices, we've seen a significant increase in canola prices, and some increase in wheat prices, and those changes in prices have been related to concerns about weather in western Canada," he said.

Vos said Alberta farmers will benefit at the expense of farmers in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

"We're seeing prices rise in the markets … because of the condition of the crop throughout Saskatchewan and Manitoba," he said.

"They're looking at decreased production so prices are going up. So obviously farmers that do get a crop this year will have the benefit of improved prices if those conditions continue on."

Orlando Nickel, the Canadian Wheat Board's farm business representative for the Edmonton region, said other regions of the Prairies are depended on to produce wheat to feed the nation.

"We cannot produce enough wheat in my region alone to feed Canada alone, so let's hope that some of the other areas will in fact produce a little bit more as well," he said.

Only 78 per cent of all crops have been seeded in Western Canada, when nearly all crops should have been seeded by now.

Between 3.2 million and 5.2 million hectares of farmland in the prairies is predicted to go unseeded this year due to excess rain.

Wheat production in the Prairies is projected to decrease by 18 per cent this year due to foul weather.