Manitoba Agriculture reports intense rain slowed the harvest in much of Manitoba this past week. Dennis Lange, a pulse and soybean specialist with Manitoba Agriculture and editor of the provincial crop report, says rainfall interrupted the harvest.
Monday and into Tuesday areas in the southern part of the province around Winkler-Morden going up toward Morris, Manitoba, received excessive amounts of moisture. They were looking anywhere from four to six inches and other areas have been receiving rainfall throughout the week as well here and there. Things have slowed a little bit so we’re currently sitting at about 58 percent complete around the province. When you look across the different types of crops, for example on the cereal side, spring wheat and barley are both sitting at about 90 percent complete around the province.
Oats are sitting at about 88 percent and canola is sitting at about 55 percent. That’s a little bit further behind but most of that canola is in the northwest region that still has to go yet. In that region they didn’t get the excessive rainfall that they go in the southern part of the central region here last week. When you’re looking at spring wheat yields, yields anywhere from 60 to 90 bushels per acre, an average of 70 in that central and eastern region. Northern Interlake region, they were definitely lower there, 25 to 55 bushels per acre in some of these areas just because of the season they had. Some had a delayed start and not a great growing season for them. Oats ranges anywhere from 80 to 180 bushels an acre and barley is at 90 to 116 bushels an acre.
Quality has been generally OK this year, other than those variations with the weather that we had. In the east there’s more wheat grading a number two quality versus a number one quality this year, a bit more fusarium here and there and in oats there’s been some light oats being reported this year too. During the hot summer at the critical time, getting hot weather at that time caused some heat blasting and a little bit of lighter oats in some areas. But there’s also been some good heavy oats this year as well, so it’s going to be a bit of a mixed bag there.
~ Dennis Lange, Manitoba Agriculture
With warm weather in the forecast for the rest this week, Lange says he expects the soybean harvest to get going in the next few days and, with the season moving along, before you know it, we’ll be into sunflowers and corn.
