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Crop report: Saskatchewan moisture improves, Manitoba sees nitrogen loss
June 29, 2022 By Top Crop Manager
The latest crop report shows improvements in Saskatchewan and Alberta. However, Manitoba continues to be hit with challenges from excess rainfall and extreme weather.
Manitoba
Seeding for Manitoba is now at 93 per cent completion for the week ending June 28, up two percentage points from last week but behind the provincial five-year average for comparable weeks, which normally are complete. As of next week, seeding will no longer be tracked in the report. Severe weather and precipitation continues to be an issue, with crops enduring damage in parts of agro-Manitoba, notably in the southwest and northwest regions, where baseball-sized hail destroyed crops and damaged farm infrastructure near Binscarth and Russell. Crop recovery from last week’s storm in the northwest region was evident, but crops are nevertheless expected to be delayed.
Repeated rains have delayed seeding and spraying and have now led to nitrogen fertilizer loss, either through runoff or denitrification. While nitrogen fertilizer has become notably expensive this year, prices are now down 30 per cent from spring highs and, according to the province, might encourage in-crop top-dressing.
Spring wheat crops have generally received the first herbicide pass, and are tillering to beginning to see stem elongation. Rapid growth in cereals under warm and moist conditions are showing signs of temporary nitrogen deficiency in some fields, but mostly recovering as roots expand. Most canola, meanwhile, is in the four- to six-leaf stage, where not excessively damaged by flea beetle. Soybeans remain short in stature due to later planting dates. | READ MORE
Saskatchewan
With seeding now effectively complete in Saskatchewan, focus turned to crop development for the week ending June 20. There was rain all throughout the province that week, with some areas seeing higher amounts of localized precipitation. Growing conditions are good in the southeast and east central regions where there is adequate moisture and warm weather, whereas rain in the western regions was seen as much-needed.
Cropland topsoil moisture is rated as nine per cent surplus, 75 per cent adequate, 15 per cent short and one per cent very short. Hay and pasture land topsoil moisture is rated as six per cent surplus, 68 per cent adequate, 21 per cent short and five per cent very short. Crop development has stalled due to extremely dry conditions in the west, which delayed germination and plant growth, and in the east development has been slow due to overly wet conditions and cooler temperatures.
Currently, 73 per cent of fall cereals, 55 per cent of spring cereals, 45 per cent of oilseed crops and 64 per cent of pulse crops are at their normal stages of development for this time of the year. Flea beetles have caused substantial damage in some areas due to canola crops being slow to develop. Producers have sprayed when they can. |READ MORE
Alberta
After receiving some much-needed rainfall last week, Alberta’s crop conditions continue to improve. As of the week ending June 21, 78 per cent of crops in the province are now rated as being in good or excellent condition, barely missing the five-year average of 79 per cent. The central region is performing best and beating its conditions from last year and from its five-year average, with 87.6 per cent of major crops in good or excellent condition, well ahead of five- and 10-year averages. The south region, however, continues to struggle, with 61.6 per cent of crops in good or excellent condition, more than 10 percentage points behind the five- and 10-year averages. For surface topsoil moisture, 77.2 per cent of the province’s soils are rated as “good” or “excellent,” ahead of both five- and 10-year averages. The south region has the highest percentage of poor (7.1 per cent) and fair (28.8 per cent) conditions, but now has more than 60 per cent of its soils in “good” or “excellent” condition.
For specific crop conditions by region, the south region is reporting slow but healthy development. Most spring cereals are in the stem elongation stage of development, slightly behind normal. In the central region, such activity is rated as “almost on par with normal,” with most spring seeded cereals either at the end of the tillering stage or beginning of the stem elongation stage. Northeast and northwest spring seeded cereals are both slightly behind normal at the tillering stage. Spring seeded cereals in the Peace region are almost one week behind, still at the beginning of the tillering stage. |READ MORE
