As of May 15, it’s possible that one percent or less of canola acres were seeded in Manitoba.
That’s a small percentage, considering that 50 percent of Manitoba crops are normally planted by the middle of May.
Despite the delayed start, Manitoba farmers may seed more canola than Statistics Canada has forecast.
“Canola acres will surpass Statistics Canada estimated area originally published on April 26, as a result of multiple delays to begin seeding, and switching out of long-season crops,” said the Manitoba Agriculture crop report from May 10.
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Some farmers are changing their planting intentions because millions of acres of cropland have been covered in water or soils were too soft to support machinery in the first two weeks of May.
An exceptionally wet April and more rain in May is responsible for the sodden conditions.
Several low-pressure systems delivered a massive amount of snow and rain to southern Manitoba
Winnipeg, as an example, received 118 millimetres of precipitation in April. Normal precipitation for the month is 30 mm.
In May, more than 20 municipalities in Manitoba declared states of emergency due to overland flooding and extremely high water levels in rivers and creeks.
On May 13, yet another storm dumped precipitation on western Manitoba. Russell received 25 mm of moisture and more than 30 mm fell on Swan River.
Before the spring storms, Statistics Canada predicted Manitoba farmers would seed 3.3 million acres of canola.
Those acres may climb because canola can tolerate a later seeding date than other crops.
“(That allows) growers some flexibility in their seeding timing and still achieve a high yield,” said Chris Manchur, a Canola Council of Canada agronomist in Manitoba.
Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp. data on yield and seeding date shows that canola seeded the first week of June achieves a yield of 90 percent of the average (for all seeding dates). By the second week of June, yield drops to about 80 percent.
The 90 percent is much higher than other crops. Yields for oats and barley sink to 70-75 percent, when seeded the first week of June.
As well, anecdotal evidence shows that excellent yields are possible when canola is seeded at a later date. One possible reason is that plants emerge and grow quickly, reducing flea beetle damage to canola seedlings.
Still, some farmland in the eastern Prairies may not dry up in time to plant canola in early June. Some producers will be tempted to broadcast canola seed to get something in the ground.
Broadcasting can work, if done right.
“(It) usually boils down to two things: increasing your phosphorus rate, so you have enough phosphorus by the seed,” Manchur said. “Also, you may need to up your seeding rate to account for seed survivability… because it’s not getting good seed to soil contact.”
The canola council website provides other tips for broadcast seeding, such as the impact of crop residue and the option of first broadcasting seed, then topping up with nitrogen and sulphur to get the crop established.
The main piece of advice is patience.
“In most cases… you should try to delay your seeding, (so) you can get into the field with a drill or other implement,” Manchur said. “(So) you can get better seed placement (and) fertilizer placement.”
