Resources · Farm operators

Acreage guides for towns in this county: Drumheller

Location of Starland County in Alberta — Starland County within Alberta

Farming in Starland County, Alberta: Water, Wells and Frost-Free Days

If you run a working farm in Starland County, four things set your season: how much water you can count on, how long the frost-free window is, which fields are wet or regulated, and what it costs to fix them. County figures are a starting point for a farm plan. They are not a parcel survey.

Large dryland grain farms with cattle in the coulees and along the river. Regional water pipelines serve many farmsteads because well water is unreliable.

Well depth and water table for farm operators

Nearby well records suggest completed wells around 45 m deep in Starland County, with static water levels often in the 14–26 m range. The predominant aquifer on file is Horseshoe Canyon Formation sandstone. These figures come from a Land Intelligence report run on a representative quarter in the county (NW 34-30-19-W4; 47 provincial well records within 5 km), not from your parcel.

Starland sits atop the Drumheller badlands, and wells here are deep by Alberta standards. Horseshoe Canyon sandstone is the usual target; low yields and high sodium are common enough that many farms haul or pipeline water.

For livestock, plan for peak summer demand and for winter freeze-up. For irrigation, a well rarely replaces a licensed surface source, and diverting water for irrigation generally needs a Water Act licence. Only a pump test tells you yield, and a county average does not.

Livestock: a frost-free pasture waterer keeps cattle off dugout and creek edges all winter.
Irrigation: compare center pivot irrigation with general agricultural irrigation before you commit.
Deeper background: water table in Starland County.

Frost-free days and hardiness zone

Starland County is generally treated as hardiness zone 3a, with a frost-free window on the order of 115 days. The zone is read from the Natural Resources Canada plant hardiness map (4th edition, 1991–2020 normals) at a representative quarter; frost dates are a regional table keyed by zone, not a logger on your fence.

Zone 3b with roughly 112 frost-free days and low precipitation. Drought, not frost, is the yield limiter in most seasons.

Match variety maturity to the shorter, colder number, not the longer one. After an early harvest, a cover crop needs seed in the ground fast, and a 4R nitrogen plan helps you time inputs to the season you actually get. More on the zone: hardiness zone in Starland County.

Wetlands, sloughs, and flood limits on the field

Wetland density in Starland County is best described as low. Notable mapped or commonly discussed flood-hazard areas include Red Deer River valley and badlands, Michichi Creek, Rowley area coulees.

Few pothole wetlands, but the Red Deer River valley brings flood fringe, slumping, and erosion limits. Coulee bottoms can carry seasonal wetlands that are still regulated.

Alberta regulates changes to wetlands and watercourses. Draining, filling, or ditching a wet area can require approval under the Water Act, even when it looks like a low spot in a field. Read the Alberta wetland policy guide before you order a ditcher, and price field drainage only after you know what is allowed.

Work packages farm operators ask about

Check grant fit before you spend

Alberta's producer programs run through Sustainable CAP, with streams for water, landscapes, efficiency, and value-added work. The federal On-Farm Climate Action Fund has supported nitrogen management, cover crops, and rotational grazing. Rates, caps, and intake change, so use the grant eligibility quiz to see what may apply, then confirm with the program administrator.

Sampled data for Starland County

From a Land Intelligence report run on a representative quarter in Township 30, Range 19, W4. These are measured or record-based values for that location, shown to put the county figures above in context. They are not your parcel.

Median completed depth31.5 m47 records within 5 km of the sample

Middle half of wells24.3–38.7 mshallowest 18.3 m · deepest 272.8 m

Median static level15.2 mbelow ground, where recorded

Annual mean4.6 °Clow -28.8 °C · high 35.1 °C in the sampled year

Days with frost181in the sampled year

Frost windowMay 20 – Sep 15regional table for zone 3a

Growing degree days1747base 5 °C

Precipitation430 mm/yr30-year normal at the sample point

Fixed south array yield1341 kWh/kWp/yrlatitude tilt, rough feasibility only

Annual insolation1719.2 kWh/m²global, horizontal

Soil at the sampleLoamDark Brown Chernozemics

Farmland value context$5,229/acretransfer average, FCC-trend adjusted; not an appraisal

Tree canopy at the sample0%from 1 m LiDAR

Each dot is one provincial well record near the sampled quarter: distance across, completed depth down (deeper is lower). Hover a dot for its values. The dashed line is the median. Records are shown by distance only; no locations are published.

Open-Meteo daily archive (ERA5 reanalysis), 2025-10-09 to 2026-10-09: one recent year at the sample point, not a 30-year normal. Use it for the shape of the year, not for a design value.

Horizontal irradiance by month from the report pipeline's insolation tables at the sample point. June and December are labelled; the ratio between them sizes an off-grid battery bank.

Growing zones near Starland County: Drumheller (zone 3a) · Hanna (zone 2b) · Three Hills (zone 3a) · Stettler (zone 3b) · Alberta growing zones map

Neighbouring counties: Kneehill County (50 km) · Wheatland County (65 km) · County of Stettler (78 km) · Special Areas (2, 3 and 4) (90 km) · Compare Starland County with another county

Sampled from the live report pipeline at a representative quarter in Township 30, Range 19, W4 on 2026-10-08: well depth, hardiness zone, solar irradiance (47 well records within 5 km). Text reviewed 2026-10-08. Methodology.

Common questions

How deep are farm wells in Starland County?

Nearby records point to roughly 45 m as a planning figure. Your parcel can differ a lot, so a pump test matters more than the county average.

How long is the growing season in Starland County?

Plan around about 115 frost-free days, then check your own field for frost pockets and shorter windows.

Do I need approval to drain a wet field in Starland County?

Often, when a wetland or watercourse is involved. Confirm with Alberta Environment and Protected Areas before you dig.