Weather patterns over the last decade have been reliably unreliable at best. And while insurance does provide some reprieve when fall crops remain in the field until spring, farmers are contemplating management decisions they hope will diminish the risk.

Following a generally cool, sometimes too wet, sometimes too dry growing season, an unhappy portion of Alberta’s 2019 grain crop was snowed under and overwintered in the field.

No one ever said farming was going to be easy. Every crop year has its obstacles, and in 2019/20, the biggest challenge is that a significant portion of the crop was left to overwinter. This is estimated to be between five and 15 per cent of total western Canadian acres. Farm economics dictate that every acre that can be harvested should be harvested to ensure financial wellbeing. Assuming that all unharvested acres will be harvested, here are some things to keep in mind.

Widely dubbed the harvest from hell, the difficult 2019/20 crop year has complicated the lives of Alberta farmers. While hard times weigh heavily, they have produced a growing awareness of mental health issues within agriculture. Producer groups advocate for awareness as farmers and rural communities have opened up, actively embracing the once largely taboo subject. Where individuals were expected to cope on their own with issues such as anxiety and depression, this is no longer so.

The Canadian new crop missions for the latest growing season began as farmers across the Prairies struggled to get their crops out of the field. Following such a challenging harvest, the value of these wheat marketing visits to our leading customers around the world is evermore apparent. The missions are key to build and maintain relationships with our top trade partners, including China, Colombia, Japan and Nigeria.