UPDATE 2-Canadian durum faring better than other crops in southeast Alberta

(Updates with crops in southwestern Saskatchewan)
By Rod Nickel
SKIFF, Alberta, July 22 (Reuters) - Durum, the wheat used to
make pasta, has fared better against dry conditions than other
major crops in southeastern Alberta, crop tour scouts said on
Wednesday.
Durum is typically planted in drier soils than spring wheat,
but fields still looked surprisingly decent, given some of the
driest conditions in decades on the Prairies.
Yields looked to fall well below average in the area, but
not dramatically, said Justin Daniels, director of commodity
risk management at CWB Market Research Services, formerly the
Canadian Wheat Board.
"We haven't seen a disaster yet in durum," he said in
sometimes drizzly conditions.
The tour organized by CWB Market Research is traveling
through Thursday on three routes across the provinces of
Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Durum stood tall and carried large heads of kernels in most
Alberta fields.
Near Foremost, Alberta, however, fields looked thin and
short, demonstrating how scattered rains have resulted in
varying farmer fortunes from one field to the next.
Further east around Leader, Saskatchewan, which has received
less rain, durum crops were thinner with smaller heads as
expected, and some fields were lined with deep cracks.
Even in the worst areas of southern Alberta and
Saskatchewan, however, scouts did not see any planted fields
that clearly would not produce a harvest.
Quality of durum in Canada - the biggest exporter - may be
more important than the crop's size, given lower grades last
year, said Courtney Boryski, a trader at U.S. commodity company
Gavilon.
On Tuesday, spring wheat yields measured less than half of
last year's results in southeastern Alberta, but were on track
to set a record high in southern Manitoba.
In an area stretching from north of Calgary to Lethbridge,
Alberta, spring wheat yields averaged 23 bushels per acre, well
short of 2014's 50 bushels, said CWB weather and crop specialist
Bruce Burnett.
In southern 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.
Canola fields also looked impressive there, Burnett said, in
contrast to small, late-developing fields in Alberta.
In Saskatchewan, Canada's biggest wheat- and canola-growing
province, crops looked better than expected from Saskatoon to
Melfort, Prince Albert and Lloydminster, he said.
Wheat averaged 52 bushels per acre, similar to last year,
and canola yields also looked in line with 2014.