Top Crop Manager

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Crop report: Manitoba makes progress, some Saskatchewan yields low

September 14, 2022  By Top Crop Manager


Harvest continues across the Prairie provinces, with significant progress made for many.

Manitoba

Progress has picked up for the Manitoba harvest. As of Sept. 13, harvest progress is 32 per cent completed across the province, with rapid progress over the past seven days. Harvest completion is now approximately 10 harvesting days behind the five-year average of 65 per cent complete. Winter wheat and fall rye are now 100 per cent harvested across the province, with field pea 92 per cent compete and several others more than half complete. Canola harvest has begun, but extreme flea beetle and early planting stress on the earliest canola crops have negatively impacted yield. Tield reductions compared to later seeded canola are common and expected by many.

Grasshoppers continue to make their way back into green soybeans after nearby cereal crops are cut in the Dauphin area and aphid populations are rising in soybeans in the Portage la Prairie area. Other areas are seeing less insect pressure as crops mature.

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Overall, arid and warm conditions across various provinces have enabled growers to make significant harvest progress. | READ MORE

Saskatchewan

As of Sept. 5, harvest in Saskatchewan is at 42 per cent complete, nearly doubled from the week previous and slightly ahead of the five-year average of 40 per cent. An additional 20 per cent of the crop is ready to swath or straight-cut. Harvest is farthest along in the southwest region with 83 per cent of the crop now combined. The west-central has 61 per cent of its crop harvested, the southeast 33 per cent, northwest 28 per cent, east central 27 per cent and northeast 21 per cent.

For crops that have made the most progress, winter cereals are closing in on completion at 96 per cent; lentils and field peas are  each at 91 per cent harvested; fall rye sits at 84 per cent and several others are at more than 50 per cent complete. The current estimated averages of crop yields are 43 bushels per acre for hard red spring wheat, 30 bushels per acre for durum, 34 bushels per acre for canola, 34 bushels per acre for field peas and 1,174 pounds per acre for lentils. Crop yields in the southwest and west-central regions have been greatly affected by extremely hot and dry conditions experienced critical growing stages this season; yields are significantly lower in these areas than the provincial averages.

Cropland topsoil moisture is rated as one per cent surplus, 42 per cent adequate, 34 per cent short and 23 per cent very short. Hay and pasture land topsoil moisture is rated as one per cent surplus, 35 per cent adequate, 39 per cent short and 25 per cent very short. | READ MORE

Alberta

As of July, Alberta’s crop reports are now released every other week. For the two weeks ending Sept. 6, Alberta has struggled with a mixed bag of climate and crop conditions. Over the last 30 days, most parts of the province experienced a “once-in-50-years” string of warmer-than-normal temperatures, with below-normal rainfall. However, the cool, wet start to the season and June rainfalls provided soil moisture reserves to supply sufficient moisture for crop growth, and crop yields have been better than normal, according to the crop report.

There has been less progress in Alberta than in other provinces, with 37 per cent of all crops combined, but this is ahead of the five- and 10-year averages of 27 and 25 per cent, respectively. Another 19 per cent of crops are currently in swath, with 44 per cent still standing. Harvest is considered advanced in all regions. The south region is most advanced, at 59.5 per cent complete for all crops. The south region also has the highest five-year yield index, which estimates yields at 21 per cent above the five-year average, although its average yield is lower than other regions, and the 10-year index for the south is lower than the five-year average. This suggests that over the past five years, yields in the south have lagged behind due to sustained dry conditions.

Crop quality has been above average for many crops across regions, with others on-par with the five-year average. Crops that are considered below the five-year average in quality include oats and the top two grades of dry peas in the south region, number one dry peas in the central region, the top two grade of spring wheat and oats in the northwest region, and malt barley and oats in the Peace region. | READ MORE

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