Patrick Kolafa
The Drumheller Mail
    
  

 In a season, that saw no worries about crops getting enough rain, farmers are now hoping it stays dry to get their crops off.
    Harvest is in full bore, however, moisture is delaying it for many producers who have no choice but to wait for the sun and wind to dry the crop.
    Agricultural Fieldman for Starland County Al Hampton says with most of September in the books, he is seeing progress stifled.
    “I imagine we are not even a third done yet,” he tells The Mail, explaining that he is seeing more progress made on the west end of the county.
    “The weather hasn’t cooperated to the extent that most farmers would like,” he said.
    He expects there may be a little bit of an impact on quality.
    “I think a little bit of the wheat will probably bleach out a bit and the grade will suffer a little,” he said. “Barley and all of the malt varieties are pretty sensitive to the cool, wet conditions, so this type of stuff could deteriorate into feed quality.”
    He expects oil seeds to be fine, but there has been a little bit of disease, which might affect yields.
    With the moisture producers have seen this year, there were expectations of a strong yield. While for the most part he says yields appear to be satisfactory, they might not be what many were hoping for.
    “Overall unfortunately, is typical of what goes on at harvest,” he said. “If you have a good crop and have had good rain, you can’t always expect a perfect fall. You’d like it, but generally, you don’t get it.”
    Jason Regehr, assistant Ag Fieldman for Wheatland County, says the moisture has slowed down harvest a bit in Wheatland.
    “There is lots of dew at night, so they are starting later,” he said, adding that while it looks like good progress was being made, rain put a damper on it.
    “Percentage wise done? I’d say on the average we are 40-45 per cent,’ he said.
    He says so far the quality appears to be okay.
    “I think it has ripened off okay, we haven’t had any substantial frost,” he said. “I had a little bit of frost one morning, but I don’t think it would have been enough to cause anyone concern.”
    The bottom line for most is to look to the sky.
    What we need is a couple of weeks of good of weather so they can knock this crop down,” said Hampton.

After much consideration and discussion, the Drumheller and District Chamber of Commerce have narrowed the field of finalists for the 2016 Business Excellence awards.

The annual awards program culminates with an evening gala on October 20 where the winners in six categories will be awarded.

This year there were 25 submissions for nominations. To help narrow the field, the chamber included a fan-voting component. From September 12 to 16, residents could make their selections and these votes were combined with the selection committee to determine the top three finalists.  

In the Arts and Culture Community awards, the field has been narrowed to 3rd Avenue Arts, Canadian Badlands Passion Play, and The Old Grouch’s.

In the Diversity Leadership Award, the finalists are A&W, Drumheller Co-op, and The Old Grouch’s.

The finalists in the Most Promising New Business are Dino’s Donuts, Kreations Photography, and Red Deer River Adventures.

The Small Business of the Year nominees are Dry Canyon Collectables, Ivy’s Awesome Kitchen & Bistro, and Sublime Food & Wine, and the Large Business of the Year finalists are Canalta Hotels, Freson Bros., and Riverside Value Drug Mart.

The Business Professional of the Year finalists are Fred Makowecki, Greg Manca, and Lisa Hansen-Zacharuk.

Award winners will be announced at the annual Business Excellence Awards Gala on Thursday, October 20 at the Badlands Community Facility. This gala runs in conjunction with Small Business Week, as a celebration of the outstanding businesses, groups and people in our community.