Manitoba Agriculture reports that the fall cereal harvest could get underway within the next ten days or so.
Dennis Lange, a pulse and soybean specialist with Manitoba Agriculture and editor of the provincial crop report, says the winter cereals continued to dry down over the past week and producers are preparing for preharvest herbicide applications.
We could actually see some harvest in the next 10 days or so on some of the fall rye fields, so that’s kind of exciting that we’re getting close there. Spring cereals are anywhere from that late milk to early dough stage where as some of the very late seeded crops are just ending flowering right now but, overall, cereal crops are in pretty good condition. Corn is definitely moving along as well. We’re in anywhere from the tassel emergence stage, so VT, all the way up to the early silk or the R1 stage on some of the earlier fields.
The cooler weather that we’ve seen over the last week has slowed growth a little bit but the cooler weather has also helped keep things from drying out too much. If you look at moisture conditions right now, if you’re looking at potential, the eastern regions are very definitely below the 30-year average. They’re about seven percent low for accumulated precipitation for this time of the year. That’s probably the area that I’ve seen the most.
Rainfall over the next week or two is going to be very critical to help fill some of the cereals that are in the process of filling right now.
The cooler weather has helped with the canola as well. As far as the accumulated heat units, we are still ahead of the norm. We’re at more than 110 percent of that right now. That is something that we’re definitely ahead of the game in that respect. There are some areas that did receive moisture over the last week or so and that’s going to be very beneficial for the crop at this stage.
~ Dennis Lange, Manitoba Agriculture
Lange says the upcoming week looks pretty quiet with some showers in the forecast. He says rainfall is certainly needed in areas where the cereal grains are struggling a little bit.
