Manitoba Agriculture has released its weekly crop report.
Crop Specialist Dane Froese says harvest in the province is already between 5 and 10% complete.
“Quality for cereal grains looks really good, however yields are widely variable,” Froese said. “Between 35 and 55 bushels an acre for spring wheat; barley is between 60 and 80 bushels an acre and oats ranges between 90 and 140.”
Warm temperatures this past week quickly advanced crop maturity in Manitoba, however recent hot conditions have caused some crop damage.
Froese says there are reports of sunscald and aborted pods in canola.
There was some rain but many areas still have below normal moisture accumulation this summer.
Froese says while rain could delay some harvest activity he doesn’t think farmers would mind at all.
“We’ve been quite dry throughout this season, it’s a little bit late and it’s going to challenge our cereal and pea harvest operations…but for the corn, the sunflowers, the soybeans and even for a lot of the silage or grain feed crops, this rain is really welcome; put a few extra bushels in the bin.” he said.
Froese also says extreme dry conditions have stressed pastures and hay fields, limiting growth and yield.