An Alberta farmer west of Edmonton says there’s a lot of pressure on the agriculture sector as harvest is set to start
These days, you can find John Guelly working his fields near Westlock.
With harvest now here for Alberta farmers, Guelly has fired up his combine to get his barley out.
“It was fairly ripe, not completely ripe, but we thought we’d better get some off,” said Guelly. “There was some showers forecasted for the weekend that might have affected the malt quality. So we took off as much as we could before the rain and then the rain didn’t come, but it was still good to have some in the bin.”
While it’s been warm this last week and change, that’s not been the case from much of central and northern Alberta throughout the summer.
Edmonton and the surrounding area endured an incredibly rainy summer, setting record amounts of rainfall throughout June and July.
Things have improved, with the temperatures in the last week reaching the high twenties and even breaking 30 degrees.
However, that hasn’t cured all issues.
External matters such as the recent trade dispute and the war in Iran have driven up fuel costs, some of which are covered by a fuel tax break instituted by the federal government in April.
With that set to end Sept. 8 and no promise that the fuel tax break will continue, Guelly says it doesn’t seem like anything is going to give right now.
“Nothing’s changed in the Middle East, it seems, and with the trade deal and all the tariffs, I think people are just finally filling up at least what they need to to get started,” he said.
With costs still rising and not all farm fuels exempt from the federal fuel break, Guelly says he’s stopped checking prices of things with any frequency.
“It’s a bit depressing asking what the price is,” he said.
However, that doesn’t mean he’s against the federal fuel break on diesel being reinstated.
“Four cents a litre is better than nothing. We actually had a price drop the end of last week of four cents on diesel. Did it inspire me to fill the tanks or wait for more? No, it’s really a small part when you’re talking four cents on a 1.80/litre or a 1.85/litre, but every little bit helps for sure.”