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Agronomy
Crop report: Saskatchewan advances, Manitoba falls behind
September 21, 2022 By Top Crop Manager
Harvest continues across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. While Saskatchewan and Alberta have reaped the benefit of favourable weather conditions, Manitoba’s heavy rainfall has caused it to fall behind.
Manitoba
Harvest in Manitoba has fallen even further behind for the week ending Sept. 20. Last week, harvest was reported at 10 days behind the five-year average of completion. This week, harvest sits at 40 per cent completed, approximately three weeks behind the five-year average of 71 per cent by week 38. Progress was stalled largely due to steady rainfall in the province. Canola harvest has been slow to ramp up due to the rain delays as well as high humidity and soft fields. Some progress has been made in the central, eastern and northwest region. Winter cereal harvesting is now complete. Field peas are now the most advanced remaining crop in terms of harvest, at 94 per cent complete. That’s followed by barley (74 per cent), spring wheat (65 per cent) and oats (64 per cent). Some oats have had issues with lodging and straw breakage.
Very good yields have been reported for dry beans, with harvest most advanced in the central region. Many bean classes have yielded between 2,000 and 3,000 lbs/acre. The record average yield for dry beans in Manitoba was set in 2017 at just over 2,100 lbs/acre, and dry bean crops could exceed that mark this year.
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan producers have seen “ideal” conditions to make significant harvest progress. Harvest is now more than halfway complete, at 64 per cent harvested as of the week ending Sept. 12, up from 42 per cent the previous week and just ahead of the five-year average of 57 per cent. An additional 20 per cent of the crop is ready to swath or straight cut. Many producers in the southwest and west central regions have completed harvest entirely and have moved onto other field work. The southeast is the next-most progressed at 57 per cent, while northwest, east-central and northeast are just under halfway complete.
For specific crops, lentils, field peas and durum lead the charge with 95 per cent, 95 per cent and 90 per cent completion respective.y Barley follows at 72 per cent and spring wheat at 68 per cent. Canola and flax remain under 50 per cent, however there is an additional 40 per cent of canola ready to swath or cut.
Some concerns remain regarding soil moisture following several weeks of minimal precipitation. Producers are now hoping for significant rainfall post-harvest. | READ MORE
Alberta
As of July, Alberta’s crop reports are now released every other week. The last report released covers the week ending Sept. 6. As of that report, Alberta harvest sat at 37 per cent of all crops combined, ahead of the five- and 10-year averages. The province has 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. | READ MORE
