Many farmers are celebrating bumper crops this year after a warm summer but some have been hampered by Mother Nature after two wicked wind storms ripped through the region.
Wind speeds of nearly 100 km/hr knocked the canola seeds from dry brittle pods that had already been swathed on some farms northeast of the city.
Matt Sawyer works his land near Acme and believes he will lose more than $200,000 worth of canola.
Sawyer says he has crop insurance, but it doesn't cover wind damage.
He is now trying to harvest what is salvageable on his 600 hectare canola field and says it is a disappointing finish to a promising growing season.
“We're almost ready to harvest this stuff. We've worked hard all year on it and almost ready to put it away in the bins and to have the wind blow it all away, it's just really disheartening,” said Sawyer.
The Alberta Canola Producers Commission says harvest is just getting underway and it is too soon to say what the canola yield will be.
The commission says disease was an issue with canola across Alberta and the south was hit with more severe weather than northern Alberta.
