A stretch of warm and windy weather in late September and early October has been a blessing for grain producers in Manitoba, but soybean growers in the province have probably benefited most from the clear, blue skies.
Many producers thought they’d never get combines onto rain-soaked fields, said Albert Turski, a soybean grower near La Salle, Man.
“It has dried up really amazingly with these winds and the Indian Summer. So we’ve been just flying through it, leaving minimal ruts in the field,” said Turski, who will harvest 1,600 acres of soybeans this year.
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“It’s a big turnaround from what it looked like a few weeks ago.”
Thanks to the drying weather, soybean growers have been able to harvest a crop that is generating excellent yields on most fields in Manitoba.
Turski, a director with the Manitoba Pulse Growers Association, said his soybeans yielded 40 to 50 bushels per acre. Soybeans usually yield, on average, 30 to 35 bu. per acre in Manitoba.
Yields were up partly because soybeans tolerate wet conditions, whereas other crops suffered from the excess rainfall on the Prairies this summer.
Soybean growers around Altona are also harvesting above average yields.
Most fields in the area are producing 30 to 45 bu. per acre, said Brian Jack, a crop production adviser, with Manitoba Agriculture.
“A good number of them are in that 40 to 45 (range),” he said.
With the excellent yields and future prices well over $10 per bu. on the Chicago Board of Trade, it’s a safe bet that soybeans will continue to win the acreage war in Manitoba.
“When guys compare it to other crops, there’s still some potential there,” said Andrew Saramaga, MPGA president.
In 2007, there were 212,606 acres of soybeans in the province, based on Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation statistics.
By 2009, that figure jumped to 441,954 and this year, Manitoba growers planted 528,127 acres.
