Manitoba Agriculture reports the most significant crops losses so far this season have been the result of hail.
Manitoba Agriculture’s latest crop report, released last week, indicates this year’s harvest is now underway.
Anastasia Kubinec, the Manager of Crop Industry Development with Manitoba Agriculture, reports the most significant losses so far were from the hail storm that went through Manitoba June 13th and 14th as the cereal crops were starting to head so, while some did come back, others had to be reseeded.
Producers were making a field by field judgment on whether or not to reseed or leave the field. The ones that were reseeded and the ones that came back are a little bit delayed behind a lot of the crops but they are looking not too bad.
Other smaller hail storms have gone through some of the regions. They weren’t as significant as the one that went through in the middle of June. They have caused a few issues on plants and they’re being assessed by producers and their insurers currently.
As for insects and disease, right now Manitoba is looking to be in a fairly good situation for disease. There’s very minimal being seen.
Fusarium has been looked for in the winter cereals as well as some spring cereals and, even though it is being found sporadically, it is fairly rare. Diseases in some of the other crops, there’s bacterial blight showing up in the soybeans and in some of the oats. There’s some other minor diseases showing up but really to no significance at this point.
In regards to insects, the insect that people have had the most issue with so far has been grasshoppers and that has only been on a very few select fields and in some areas where it has been quite dry and grasshoppers have moved from the ditches into the crops because the ditches are starting to dry out.
~ Anastasia Kubinec, Manitoba Agriculture
Kubinec acknowledges there are concerns in areas that have not received enough rainfall, especially in areas of lighter soil or on hilltops where crops are ripening prematurely but, in general, everything is looking good.
