'Million-dollar rain' brings moisture to dry fields in Edmonton area
This week's rain has brought Edmonton-area farmers back from the brink, according to one official.
The latest Alberta Crop Report released on Tuesday stated that sporadic showers haven't given producers ideal conditions to boost crops.
But to the relief of farmers, rain came to the capital region on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
"A million-dollar rain comes at the right time," Scott Jespersen, a farmer in the Spruce Grove area, told CTV News Edmonton on Friday. "Never too late, never too early. It kind of helps the crop relieve the stress from the drought we were going through."
Jespersen has cows and grows crops, including canola, barley, wheat and peas.
Crop-growing conditions were rated as 43 per cent good to excellent in the latest report. Canola and barley are in the lowest condition.
Crops in Spruce Grove on Friday, June 16, 2023. (Cam Wiebe/CTV News Edmonton)
"Up until this week, there's a lot of producers look at slim to no rain essentially since seeding," said Jeremy Boychyn, Agronomy Research Extension Manager at Alberta Wheat Commission.
"We were very much on the brink, so this was very much an extremely timely rain that is going to be very beneficial."
Boychyn added farmers need rain to continue in order to produce a good crop, and Jespersen thinks it's early enough in the season to recover.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's David Ewasuk
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