MANITOBA
SOUTHWEST
Winter wheat above average
Showers and non-scorching conditions helped southwestern crops advance well.
Late seeded cereals are tillering and going into the flag leaf stage, while earlier seeded crops are heading.
Considerable amounts of greenfeed were seeded by farmers looking for something to do with their land, and these crops are in the three to four leaf stage.
Early canola is podding and late canola is still flowering. Many crops are stunted and light because of the saturated early conditions.
Read Also
Alberta’s beets a sweet domestic segment in Canada’s sugar supply
The sugar beet industry is showcased during a Farm to Table tour, as Taber features the last remaining sugar beet processing plant in all of Canada.
Farmers will soon be able to harvest winter wheat, with many crops well into turning. Crops look above average.
Haying has been general, with a mix of good crops and poor crops.
NORTHWEST
Cooler days welcomed
Rain and cooler temperatures helped crops develop.
High winds that accompanied the rain have lodged crops in some areas.
Canola is podding.
Cereals have begun to move into the heading stage.
Hot spots for bertha armyworms have appeared, but in most areas counts are beneath thresholds and producers are not spraying. Durban and San Clara are most at risk.
Most haying is done.
CENTRAL
Crop development variable
The northern part of the region received heavy rain, but the southern area received little.
Farmers are spraying winter wheat. The crop is getting close to harvest. Early canola is podding well, but late seeded crops are just now flowering.
Potatoes are in flower and being irrigated. Corn is tasseling.
Less fungicide has been applied this year because of the dryness that has continued in recent weeks. Early wet conditions created the expectation for a heavy season of spraying, but bone dry conditions have limited humidity in recent weeks.
Diamondback moths and bertha armyworms aren’t causing problems.
EASTERN
Fusarium spraying wraps up
Sunny, warm weather advanced crops that look good now that soil moisture conditions are ideal.
Early cereals are heading and doughing. Late cereals are beginning to head.
Farmers are finishing up fusarium spraying.
Oats are filling.
Harvest is about to begin in winter wheat and pre-harvest Roundup is being used.
Canola is podding and seeding. The heat wave did not appear to have caused major flower blasting.
Soybeans are flowering and beginning to pod.
Corn is silking. Sunflowers are forming heads.
Some producers have been spraying for diamondback moth.
Hay is mostly done with good quality.
INTERLAKE
Most crops need rain
The northern Interlake received lots of rain, especially near Riverton, but the southern portions of the region received almost nothing.
Most crops now need rain to finish growing and maturing.
Canola is flowering, with early seeded crops podding. Broadcast canola fields look better than many expected.
Farmers are spraying wheat for fusarium.
Farmers are able to cut hay on land that hasn’t been reachable for years because of excess moisture, and they are cutting bull rushes, cattails and willows in the hopes that recent sloughs will become next year’s hay field.
SASKATCHEWAN
SOUTH
Aphids bother pulse crops
Precipitation ranged from trace amounts to 40 millimetres, including heavy rain and hail. Topsoil conditions continue to be good in most areas, although 15 percent of crop and hay land is considered short of moisture.
Livestock producers have adequate water supplies.
Warm sunny weather allowed progress on haying.
More than half the crop has now been baled or put into silage, and 95 percent of it is rated good to excellent quality.
Most crops are reported in good to excellent condition, except for late-seeded fields.
Most crop damage is due to wind, disease, insects, hail and flooding. Drought damage has been reported in western areas.
Aphids are posing a particular concern in pulse crops and later-sown canaryseed.
CENTRAL
Crop development running behind
Heavy rain fell through much of the central grain belt, including 87 mm at Reward and a one-day rainfall of 55 mm at Rosetown.
The Langenburg area saw 45 mm in one day and 13 mm several days later.
Just two percent of land is rated short of moisture in the east and five percent is short in the west.
Sixty percent of the hay crop has been baled or put up as silage. Ninety-seven percent is considered good to excellent in the east, but only 68 percent is rated the same in western areas.
All livestock producers said they have adequate water supply.
All crops are reportedly behind in terms of crop development.
Wind, insects and flooding are the major causes of crop damage, but there has also been hail damage.
Aphids are a problem because crops were planted late and damage is occurring when pods are filling.
NORTH
Topsoil moisture adequate
The region saw fairly significant rain. Maximums included Arborfield in the east at 56 mm and Frenchman Butte in the west with 76 mm.
Some areas needed the rain but others need more hot, dry weather to complete haying and allow crops to advance.
The vast majority of the region has adequate topsoil moisture for both crops and hay land.
Haying is least advanced in the west, with 40 percent cut and 19 percent baled.
In the east, 80 percent has been cut and 54 percent baled or put into silage.
Hay quality is also better in the east, at 85 percent good to excellent compared to 67 percent in the west.
Crops are in good condition. The majority of damage is due to flooding, wind and insects.
Hail and disease have also affected some crops.
Wind and heavy rain has caused lodging and damaged blossoming canola.
ALBERTA
SOUTH
Crops in excellent shape
Heat and adequate rain are setting up the region for excellent crops.
Canola has finished blooming in the far south and cereals are heading. Pastures are in excellent condition.
Row crops in the Taber region have caught up to normal development with good harvests predicted for corn, sugar beets and potatoes. Winter wheat is starting to turn and irrigated crops are ripening. Irrigation has been running because of extreme heat.
Evenings have been cool, raising fears of an early frost.
Crops look good in the High River-Calgary region, even though rain comes nearly every day. There have been no widespread, severe hailstorms to report.
Hay crops are still standing in the northern part of the district because it has been too wet to enter fields. There could be some poor quality hay because of rain damage after it was cut.
CENTRAL
Rain hindering and helping
Rain showers nearly every day have saturated soil in many areas, and crops are under stress in the Red Deer-Lacombe area.
Some premature ripening has been spotted. Haying hasn’t started because of wet conditions. Some spraying for rust and sclerotinia has been done.
There have been no reports of serious hail damage.
Adequate rain has left crops in excellent condition further east in the traditionally drier regions.
Crops are still a bit behind and there is plenty of standing hay.
Producers need to watch for black hay that might not cure properly in the wetter fields. Some silage has been taken off.
The entire region needs a warm August and September without frost so crops can mature properly.
NORTHEAST
June rain averts drought fears
Crops are in excellent condition because of plenty of rain since June 20.
Concerns about drought damage have eased now that the region has received as much as 300 mm of rain. Canola was in poor shape with uneven germination but has since improved. Pastures are in excellent condition.
Traps set out for bertha armyworms and diamondback moths were empty.
Some aerial spraying for sclerotinia has taken place. There is standing water in low spots.
NORTHWEST
Development behind; crops need heat
Pastures are in excellent condition and dugouts are full. The water table is rising because of plenty of recent rain, and heat is now needed to help crops mature. Crops remain up to two weeks behind, and some canola fields are struggling from excess moisture.
A cold spring and spotty germination have caused uneven maturity.
Some severe hail damage was reported in a few districts. Grasshoppers and mosquitoes are a problem throughout the region.
More silage than hay is coming off in some districts because producers are concerned about the excess moisture in the forage. Leaf diseases in cereals are appearing because of rainy weather.
PEACE
Lower protein possible
The countryside has turned green thanks to adequate rainfall in recent weeks.
Moisture reserves have been replenished after extremely dry conditions reported earlier in the season.
Some low lying areas are under water so heat is needed to dry fields and ripen crops.
Canola is nearly finished blooming. Wheat is starting to head out and may be lower in protein than normal because of wetter conditions. Some haying has started and pastures are green.
Grasshoppers outbreaks are appearing and have devastated pastures in the Manning area.
Crops were sprayed earlier for control.
