Manitoba Agriculture Food and Rural Initiatives says considering this year’s slow start the province’s farmers are pleased with the progress of crop development so far.
The 2013 growing season has been one of extremes characterized by a later than normal start due to the late spring melt then the heat came, followed by cooler moderate temperatures then a return to the heat.
Pam de Rocquigny, a cereal crop specialist with Manitoba Agriculture Food and Rural Initiatives, says farmers like to get into the fields by May 1 or earlier but, thanks to cool wet conditions at the start of the season, farmers had a later than normal start getting onto the fields closer to that May 10 to 11 time frame.
Harvest is definitely getting underway here in Manitoba.
We’ve had winter wheat coming off for the last couple of weeks.
Yields seem to be not too bad considering the rough start the crop got to this crops year.
We’re seeing yields anywhere from 50 up to 90 bushels an acre so that’s good news along with good quality so far.
We’re seeing some of the spring cereals starting to come off now, mostly in the central and eastern regions of the province and so far the preliminary yields are looking good.
We have yields that are 60 bushels to the acre for spring wheat and then upwards of over 80 for both barley and oats.
Of course those are only initial acres and we’ll kind of get a better handle on what yields will be in the province as more acres start to come off.
De Rocquigny says, in line with statistics Canada predications and Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation observations, we’ve seen an increase in soybean acres and in grain corn acres, so we’re seeing a move toward these longer warmer season crops and those crops taking acres away from other crops.
She says overall producers are putting crops into the rotations they feel will be profitable and fit into the rotation.
