Manitoba Agriculture reports that while spring seeding is running behind average, farmers are planting into almost ideal soil moisture conditions. Planting across the province is running at about 23 percent complete compared to the five-year average of around 63 percent.
Dennis Lange, a pulse and soybean specialist with Manitoba Agriculture and editor of the provincial crop report, says warm temperatures and windy conditions have allowed farmers to get onto the fields and considerable progress is anticipated over the next week or so.
If you look at the soil moisture conditions right now, we’re actually in pretty good shape right now. Most of the crops that are getting planted right now are being planted into very good soil moisture conditions. However, when you look at the percent of normal precipitation for May, we are definitely drier in May than what we have been in previous times.
Right now, soil conditions are almost ideal in most regions. Growers are able to plant into moisture and make some good headway on the fields. Right now the field peas and wheat are probably the most advanced of the crops being planted right now. We’re looking at roughly just roughly just over 60 percent of the field peas planted around the province with some of the areas further north and in the northwest region approaching 80 percent. Spring wheat is sitting roughly in that 50 to 55 precent range planted so things are really moving along nicely. Corn is getting planted and we’re just starting the soybeans and canola right now but that will increase over the weekend. We’ll see a lot more of those crops being planted.
~ Dennis Lange, Manitoba Agriculture
Lange says planting is ahead of last year’s pace. He notes a lot of last year’s crops went in a little bit later than growers would have liked but in the end things worked out pretty well so we’re hoping for another good year this year.
