Drying winds and below-average snow packs are becoming cause for concern among livestock producers in the counties of Cardston and Warner and across southern Alberta, says a provincial forage specialist.
“We’ve had very little snow cover across most of southern Alberta this winter,” says Bjorn Berg, a forage specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) in Lethbridge.
While the lack of snow has allowed cattle to graze longer this winter – it has also left pasture and hay fields exposed to strong winds over the winter months that are sucking moisture and drying out the top few inches of soil, notes Berg.
“That top layer of moisture is essential for initiating early growth on our perennial stands in the spring – making the need for early rain in April even more important this year,” he points out.
The drying winds have also fuelled a number of pasture fires across southern Alberta over the past few months, he adds.
“An insulating blanket of heavy snow would be nice right now to help protect our hay and pasture stands from the elements.”
Berg says the limited snowpack could also increase the risk of winterkill this year.
“When you combine that lack of snow with some of the warm temperatures we’ve had, which can trick perennial plants into early growth – and then follow that with the frigid temperatures we experienced in January – it heightens the risk of winterkill this year. Producers should examine their alfalfa and timothy fields carefully this spring for signs of winterkill – especially on older hay stands, which are more prone to damage.”
With the Feb. 29 deadline to insure hay and pasture in southern Alberta just weeks away, Berg says, “It’s these kinds of conditions that make hay and pasture insurance an important tool to consider this year.”
While the drying winds and low snow packs pose concerns, Ralph Wright, a provincial soil moisture specialist with ARD, says the South is currently better off than the rest of the province when it comes to soil moisture.
Wright says soil conditions through the root zone are extremely dry in many areas of Alberta, which could delay spring grazing in those regions this year. Soil moisture across southern Alberta down to 1.2 metres generally ranges from near normal to moderately high according to provincial soil moisture maps at www.agric.gov.ab.ca/acis.
“There are some drier pockets to the east around Medicine Hat but one good rain storm could change everything this spring,” says Wright.
He explains decent soil moisture levels across much of the South are largely due to the fact that the region experienced its wettest October in 50 years, recharging soil moisture after a dry August and September.
“However, that was followed by the driest 90-day period the South has seen in 50 years from mid-October to mid-January which is why we now have snow packs ranging from 1-in-6 to 1-in-50-year lows across most of the region. It’s truly been a year of extremes in the South,” says Wright.
Jeff Bectell runs a 200-head cow-calf operation southwest of Magrath near Cardston.
He says while he got some rain in August and September “it’s been very dry since then and there’s been a lot of wind. Quite a bit of that fall moisture has dried up for sure.”
Bectell says fall moisture and spring rain are always critical for getting his hay and pasture stands off to a strong start and this year will be no different.
Last year, “the rain quit in early June and our pastures dried up in a hurry,” he says, adding, “It triggered a pretty good payment” on his pasture insurance that helped cover his feed costs.
Bectell says he’s been insuring his hay and pasture since 2002 after he “pretty much harvested no hay” due to drought conditions the year before, and had to sell his calves early because his pasture dried up.
In 2011, more than $6 million was paid on hay and pasture insurance claims across Alberta mainly due to lack of moisture, says John Kresowaty, Perennial Insurance Coordinator with Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC), the provincial Crown Corporation that administers crop insurance in Alberta.
More than $1.5 million was paid to producers in southern Alberta who experienced limited rainfall late in the season and production losses on hay.