Mild weather raises damage risk for Canadian crops

Unusually mild temperatures in Western Canada are threatening to damage stored crops, potentially downgrading quality and reducing supply for exports, a canola industry official said on Friday. Canola crushers have noticed in the past week shipments of canola with mold and other heat damage, said Jim Bessel, a senior agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada.
"The concern is certainly out there," he said. "Because of the harsh conditions this fall, vigilance is critical right now." The weather turned mild this week in Canada's grain-growing region, with temperatures forecast to soar on Friday to 11 Celsius (52 Fahrenheit) in Lethbridge, Alberta, and 8 C (46 F) in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan.
Warmer weather always raises concerns of mold forming in storage bins, but those fears are greater this year because farmers harvested much of the late crop in damp conditions, Bessel said. Mold can drop canola quality drastically, not only removing it from the export supply but making it hard to sell to anyone, he said.
Wet October weather delayed much of Canada's harvest to November, when farmers moved quickly to get their crops off the field before the first snowfall. Canada is the world's top producer and exporter of spring wheat and the top shipper of canola and durum.
Mild temperatures can cause insect problems for stored grain, said Bruce Burnett, director of weather and market analysis for the Canadian Wheat Board. "(Farmers) have to keep very close attention to wheat, canola, whatever was put away late and wet," he said.
With so much of the crop harvested late, farmers were hard-pressed to manually dry it. Some wrongly thought that an early cold snap would keep mold from forming, Bessel said. "As I have said many times, mold grows in the fridge," he said. "People aren't being attentive enough." Farmers should now be checking their bins and moving the crop if they detect mold, Bessel said. Temperatures are expected to return below freezing next week, but as days get longer the sun's rays become more intense and can still raise temperatures inside bins, Bessel said.