Manitoba Agriculture reports adequate soil moisture and good crop development across most of the province. Spring planting throughout Manitoba is virtually complete with 99 percent of the crop estimated to now be in the ground.
Anne Kirk, a Cereal Crop Specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, says spraying is underway and will continue although high wind speeds have been a hindrance.
For most of the province we are seeing that topsoil moisture conditions are rated as adequate. There are some areas in the southeast and the southwest that are rated as dry and in the northwest in the Swan River, Swan Valley area we are seeing some wet soil conditions so we are seeing some variability across the province but for the most part we are seeing adequate.
Spring crops are looking food and growing well for the most part. We are seeing really good growth because we have had some high temperatures across the province. For the most part we are seeing some rainfall although there are regions that are quite dry and would need more rain for good crop development. It really depends on the region where crops are at but we’re seeing canola at the three to four leaf stage.
Canola is tending to be a bit spotty for emergence and crop staging just because it was seeded into some dry soils or deeper than ideal in some cases. In terms of the spring cereal crops we are seeing the four to six leaf stage with some tillering and in some cases they’re starting jointing. Corn is about the B-3 to B-5 stage and soybeans range from cotyledon to about the third trifoliate.
~ Anne Kirk, Manitoba Agriculture
Kirk says in the drier areas crops may be moving through their growth stages quicker than we would normally see, such as early heading in winter cereals but for the most part we are seeing adequate soil moisture.
