Warm, wet weather pleases Alta. farmers

It may not have been the best summer for getting a suntan, but farmers in central Alberta are happy.

The warm, rainy weather has wheat and canola growers looking forward to a bountiful harvest, and an export ban in Russia due to drought there is pushing grain prices up on the world market.

Farmers elsewhere in the Prairies, however, weren't all as lucky.

"We're one of the fortunate few, I think, because when you look at the Prairies, a lot of Saskatchewan didn't even get their crop in the ground — it was, you know, just too wet for them.

"And parts of southern Manitoba were flooded after they had the crop in, so they lost some acres," said Kevin Bender, president of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers. He farms near Bentley, Alta., northwest of Red Deer.

"We had a little bit of flooding in some low areas, but overall our crops are looking very good."

Spring flooding left a record number of acres unseeded in the Prairies this summer, though those who did get crops in are mostly getting good weather now. Harvesting has begun in southern areas.

In Saskatchewan, the Agriculture Department's weekly crop report states that conditions are wetter than usual, with 22 per cent of cropland holding too much moisture. Crop development is one or two weeks behind normal in most of the province, but farmers are starting to harvest rye and wheat.

Winter wheat is also being harvested in Manitoba, although harvest is still a few weeks away for the majority of cereal crops, that province's crop report states.

"Our production will be good, but I think we're probably in the minority this year," Bender said.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization cut its wheat production forecast Wednesday by 3.7 per cent to 651 million tonnes, but it said world commodity supplies are "more balanced" than in 2007-08.