There may be plenty of snow on the ground right now in Alberta, however, it won’t mean too much come seeding time.
Soil Moisture Technologist Joe Michielsen with Alberta Agriculture, tells Rural Roots Canada because of Chinook winds most of the precipitation goes straight from a solid to a vapour and never makes it into the ground.
He says the months that really make or break it for farmers are still to come.
“Right now we are just getting into our wet months, so we basically count on from March to June, that is what really makes the difference in the year in southern Alberta there’s very little value in the snow because it sublimates and we don’t get very much value from it. However, there’s a really good snow pack along the western part of the province,” said Michielsen.
Michielsen says they are able to stay on top of the moisture levels across the province, because of a wealth of resources they have at their disposal.
“We have over a 160 climate stations across the province, which help monitor what the situation is.”
To see the moisture levels across the province click here.