Regional harvest shaping up positively, says Hunter

Posted on September 11, 2026 by Sunny South News

By Trevor Busch
Sunny South News
editor@tabertimes.com

Taber-Warner MLA Grant Hunter says crops throughout his riding are shaping up for a good harvest season in 2026.

“The dryland farming, certainly it will be above normal. They were looking at bumper crops, but then we had a really dry spell there, and it looked like it wouldn’t be the bumper crop. So disappointing, but that is weather. Mother Nature, she’s always going to throw a curveball at us. But it still looks like it’s pretty good. The rains that we’re getting looks like it’s probably a couple of weeks later than what we needed in terms of being able to fill out the heads – so that was disappointing. But like I said, all in all, we got some really good rains when we needed it in the spring and early summer, and so that did help quite a bit, and it’s looking pretty good. I’ve talked to lots of dryland farmers in my area. Some are not going to do so well. The rain wasn’t completely all over the south, there are some places that are a little drier. But generally speaking we’ve had a pretty good year, and I would also say that lots of the ranchers and cattle producers are pretty happy as well as the price for cattle has actually been pretty decent, and then the price for the inputs has not been too bad as well. At least they’re getting the inputs – some years when it’s been so dry they haven’t been able to find the inputs, they’ve had to sell some of their stock. So that’s been pretty good – they seem to be happy as well.”

Reservoirs and winter storage are also looking positive as good moisture early in the season contributed to a boost in storage and irrigation capacity.

“They’re looking really good. We’ve had really good snowpack, above average snowpack, and now we had some pretty good rains that have filled up our off-stream storage,” said Hunter, who also serves as Minister of Environment and Protected Areas. “So yeah, we’re actually sitting really good this year, looking really good for next year.”

A big push for his ministry and a vital goal to protect Alberta’s irrigation infrastructure are additional measures to keep aquatic invasive species from infiltrating the province’s water systems.

“I do want to say that in terms of water and water security, we’re certainly doing a lot when it comes to aquatic invasive species. We’ve certainly ramped up the inspection stations we have,” said Hunter. “We have 11 inspection stations now in Alberta to inspect for quagga and zebra, and now golden mussels. So that’s something that we’re working hard on in my ministry to make sure that we keep those out. As you know, we have 70 per cent of Canada’s irrigation land right here in southern Alberta, and it’s important to keep those quagga and zebra mussels out so that they don’t clog up the pipes, which would cause major problems. If they got in, it would be devastating to our irrigators, and it’s a big part of our economy, especially down here in southern Alberta. And so I’m just hoping that everybody remembers to clean, drain, and dry their boats.”

More sniffer dogs and a new dip tank opened in Dunmore show the province isn’t taking vigilance on this front lightly.

“We actually brought on a couple new canine dogs as well. Winnie and Jane came on to join Milo in being sniffer dogs for these quaggas muscles. So we’re excited about that. I think we’ve got some really good things happening. We’re trying really hard to have wins when it comes to this issue when of quagga and zebra muscles and aquatic invasive species,” said Hunter.