With COVID-19 shutting down a large segment of the economy, farmers keep going, and so far this year it is looking like a great year for many in the agriculture industry.
Manager of Agriculture and Environment for Wheatland County Russ Muenchrath says harvest is going well so far, and they are pushing along with some being near three-quarters finished.
“This year from a yield standpoint and being able to complete harvest in a more timely fashion than our usual in the last few years, I think farmers are quite a bit happier,” said Muenchrath.
This year in Wheatland County there was some localized hail storm that hurt some producers, however, most made out okay with the weather and crops are looking good.
“I think the quality is going to look pretty good as well,” he said. “In general throughout the whole municipality things are looking generally pretty good. Hay crops have also been good as well."
Starland County Ag Fieldman, Al Hampton, says harvest is progressing well in the county. He said some areas are close to two-thirds done, while some are just getting started
“In general terms, most of the area is going to have a good crop,” said Hampton.
He said the Hanna-Craigmyle area is looking very good, but in some areas, hail has made an impact this season.
“There’s pockets, outside of Drumheller there was some hail and up around Morrin and Delia, there was some. Hail has definitely impacted some yields,” he said, It was the garden variety hail that didn’t really devastate the crop, but it took 10 or 20 percent of the yield.”
While many farmers were hoping for a bumper crop, some factors may play a role in it not meeting expectations.
“You have to take into account, in a little hot spell your plants can’t transfer the energy up to the top as quickly so you don’t get as big of kernels and lower bushel weight,” he said. “But as we can get it into the bin most people will be pretty happy with what they got.”
Through COVID, one thing that has not waned is the demand for food.
Hampton said Canola prices are creeping up and getting stronger.
“As far as the rest of the commodities, they have held their price pretty much static previous to when COVID showed up. The price has been flat and I guess that’s good,” said Hampton
Muenchrath says one concern for the hog industry is swine flu.
“ I think it is going to be a bigger issue as time goes by, but we don’t have a whole lot of hog producers, but it will be interesting how that plays out. But from the COVID standpoint, farmers still need to do what they do to get the job done, and people still need food,” said Muenchrath.
