Spring wheat yields puny in dry Alberta, near-record in Manitoba

LETHBRIDGE, Alberta, July 22 (Reuters) - Spring wheat yields
measured less than half of last year's results in
drought-stricken southeastern Alberta, but were on track to set
a record high in southern Manitoba, during a Canadian crop tour
that saw the results of wildly contrasting weather.
The tour organized by CWB Market Research Services, formerly
the Canadian Wheat Board, is travelling on three routes across
Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba through Thursday. Some areas
have suffered the driest conditions in decades.
Canada is the world's largest canola exporter and producer
and expected to be the third-biggest wheat-exporting country in
2015/16, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Yields averaged 23 bushels per acre in an area stretching
from north of Calgary to Lethbridge, Alberta, well short of the
previous year's 50 bushels, CWB weather and crop specialist
Bruce Burnett said in a report late on Tuesday.
Further east in Manitoba, where rain has been adequate,
spring wheat was in "excellent shape" and yields averaged 69
bushels per acre, close to a record for the route through
southern Manitoba to Brandon.
Canola fields also looked impressive there, Burnett said, in
contrast to the small, late-developing fields in Alberta.
ID:nL1N10116U
In Saskatchewan, the biggest wheat- and canola-growing
province, crops looked better than expected from Saskatoon to
Melfort, Prince Albert and Lloydminster, Burnett said.
Wheat averaged 52 bushels per acre, similar to last year,
and canola yields also looked in line with 2014.
Reuters is traveling on the CWB tour route through
southeastern Alberta, southwestern and south-central
Saskatchewan. That area last year produced about one-fifth of
Canada's spring wheat, two-thirds of durum and about 17 percent
of canola, according to Statistics Canada data.
On Wednesday, scouts on that tour will travel through
southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan, which is
known for its durum production.
CWB will on Friday estimate Western Canada yields of canola,
spring wheat and durum.