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Weather takes toll on grain producers
By
Staff reporter
Cool and damp fall weather is impacting the harvesting of Okotoks grain farmers, who thus far have enjoyed a year of recovery following three years of drought conditions.
Many crops are being harvested late as the grain has been unable to dry out long enough to be taken off the fields.
Jay Byer, cereal and oilseed specialist for the provincial Agricultural, Food and Rural Development Ministry, said a rule of thumb for Alberta grain producers is to have the grain off the fields by Thanksgiving for an early harvest, but due to wet conditions this has not happened.
Precipitation and time are taking their toll on the grain.
Small amounts of rain and snow have prevented crops from drying out enough to be harvested. Byer said it usually takes around a week for grain to be dried sufficiently for harvest.
'The vast majority of farmers don't even have their crops off now,' Byer said last week.
If grain sits out too long growth is created in the seed resulting in sprouting. 'Once that happens the grain is not acceptable for malt or making bread. (Once the grain sprouts) it is only acceptable as animal feed,' Byer explained.
Precipitation can also devalue the grain by staining the seed. For example, oats and barley exposed to precipitation for a prolonged period of time are often stained with black spots.
Byer said these types of stains reduce the value of feed grains and make them undesirable for high quality feed for valued animals such as race horses.
Once grain becomes diminished in these ways prices drop significantly.
Byer said this year the difference between the top two grades of canola is around $13 per tonne.
The price disparity between grades of wheat is more dramatic. The highest grade of wheat, called number one high protein grade, is projected to sell for $259 per tonne this year. However, Canada western feed-grade wheat, the lowest grade of wheat, will likely sell for $179. For a grain producer with 1,000 tonnes of grain that has been downgraded to the lowest grade that means a difference of $80,000.
However, Byer said producing top- grade wheat was achievable for some Alberta farmers.
'Those who were lucky enough to get their crops off early were able to get the high protein grade but those who encountered moist, cool conditions did not,' he explained, referring to areas in central Alberta where fall precipitation has not been a problem.
No end is in sight for Okotoks farmers waiting to harvest their grain.
'Unfortunately the forecast is not looking good,' Byer said adding that some grain farmers who are still waiting to harvest may have to leave their grain out over the winter, making their crops susceptible to further deterioration from the elements and foraging animals such as deer.
'In 1996 some northeastern producers had to leave their grain over the winter,' Byer recounted. 'That was not a pleasant spring. Farmers were harvesting low quality grain and seeding at the same time.'
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Who needs Martha Stewart?
- photo by John Barlow
Much-anticipated hospital expansion to proceed this spring
By
Staff Reporter and Sports Editor
After several years of planning, the long awaited expansion of the High River Hospital will commence in the spring of 2003.
At a public meeting held last Wednesday in High River, representatives of Headwaters Health Authority (HHA) unveiled plans for the hospital expansion.
The project includes an additional 6,000 square feet of space that will be added on the front of the existing building.
'This is part of the vision of Headwaters Health Authority that the hospital has to grow with the population,' said Rosemary Burness, HHA's executive leader for High River and Nanton.
The expansion and renovation project will result in extensive changes to the existing first floor of the hospital.
The project includes a new ambulance garage, ambulatory clinic, two new trauma rooms, new admitting area, expanded gift shop and an extensive renovation of the emergency department.
'ER nurses have been stumbling over each other,' said Burness of the need for renovations. 'The doctors work hard to support this hospital and they seem to be very pleased (with the proposed changes).'
The project, which is under the guidance of the architectural firm The Cohos Evamy Partners, is currently in the conceptual design and costing phase. As a result, Lynn Webster, a partner with The Cohos Evamy Partners, said a budget has not been established for the project.
'The money is in place from Alberta Infrastructure, but we are at the beginning of the design stage and the budget has not been finalized,' said Webster. 'It will certainly be several million dollars if you want a ballpark figure.'
The budget is expected to be finalized in January and the project will go to tender in January or February with hopes construction will begin in March.
Webster said the expansion will take at least a year to complete.
The project is limited to the first floor and it is expected there will be little impact on the second and third floors during construction.
The hospital's third floor, the active medical floor, will house some surgeries during the renovations to the main floor.
On the main floor the bulk of the expansion will be for the ambulatory clinic which will be located where the main entrance is currently located.
The new clinic will include approximately 10 general examination rooms, offices and the cancer treatment area.
Specialists who travel to High River will be able to utilize the new examination rooms rather than using rooms in the emergency department.
The other major element of the expansion is renovated emergency department and the new day-surgery area.
'We think this project will correct some of the deficiencies in the existing hospital,' commented Webster.
One of the deficiencies in the existing facility is a useless ambulance garage. The current garage is too small to be utilized by Foothills Regional Emergency Medical Services. As a result, ambulances have to back up to the hospital's front door to unload.
A new ambulance garage will be added on to the building and the existing garage will be revamped to house new trauma rooms.
Once the hospital is renovated and the new health clinic in Okotoks is completed, Burness said the state of health services in the Foothills region will be in good shape.
