Manitoba Agriculture reports variable moisture is resulting in variable yields but crop quality is good. The latest crop report indicates, following delays last week due to rain, the harvest stands at about 18 percent complete, a little below the five-year average of 23 percent.
Dennis Lange, a pulse and soybean specialist with Manitoba Agriculture and editor of the provincial crop report says the big thing this year is the variability in moisture and yields.
Anybody that captured some good rains through the summer, those yields are much better in those areas in crops that have been harvested so far, such as the cereals and the winter wheats and the fall ryes.
Much of the central region, precipitation wise, we’re below 60 percent compared to a third year normal, so we’re definitely drier in the central region as well. Percent normal growing degree days, right now most of Manitoba is at least 110 percent of the norm. So, as far as the crop goes and the staging of the crop, we’re well on pace and a little bit ahead of pace as well.
There have been some comments from growers that the yields have been really good if you got that extra thunderstorm or that extra rain that went through the summer. When you’re looking at some of the spring wheat yields there have been reports of some 60 to 70 bushel per acre yields on some of the spring wheat but, by the same token, if you missed all those rains there’s been also some 30s as well so variability is probably the big theme for this year.
Moving forward I think most growers would prefer not to get any significant rainfall because they are right into harvest right now. Cereals are moving along at a pretty good pace with the exception of this last week. If you run through the cereals, barley is about 38 percent complete, oats is at 31 percent and spring wheat is at 32 percent with canola just getting started. The most advanced area for canola harvest would be the central region. We’re sitting at about 15 percent harvested. Other areas not reporting any significant harvesting of canola as of today’s date.
~ Dennis Lange, Manitoba Agriculture
Lange says, even though the yields have been lower in the drier regions, the quality in most crops harvested so far has been quite good and growers are looking forward to a nice sunny week to get more crops into the bin.
