Manitoba’s canola crop might set a record this year for average canola yield as growers in central and eastern regions report 60 bushels per acre and higher.
Most of the province’s bumper crops are between Winnipeg and Portage la Prairie, but other areas are also producing near record yields
“I’ve heard that in the Morris area, Beausejour, Holland, Treherne, Glenboro … lots of guys have been getting 60s,” said Anastasia Kubinec, an oilseed specialist with Manitoba Agriculture.
“But guys have been getting fields of 40s, too.”
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Kubinec said yields of 60 bu. per acre and higher are not shocking because it’s been an ideal year to grow canola in many parts of Manitoba.
“Everything that could go right seemed to go right this year,” she said, noting there was less blackleg, less sclerotinia and minimal to normal insect pressure.
“Given the conditions that we had, I don’t think it (60 bu. per acre) is that unusual. We kind of had the perfect late July, early August pod filling and flowering conditions.”
Daily high temperatures in Manitoba during late July and early August hovered around 22 C, which is nearly perfect for a cool season crop such as canola.
Clayton Harder, who farms west of Winnipeg, said his later seeded canola took advantage of the cooler conditions, generating yields of 50 bu. per acre or slightly higher.
“The later (seeded) stuff seems better. The earlier seeded fields were not quite as heavy,” said Harder, who spoke from his cellphone while sitting in line at the elevator.
Based on conversations with other producers, Harder said many growers are reporting canola yields in the 50s, but he hasn’t heard of many fields in the 60s.
Harder said this year’s crop ranks in the top three ever on his farm.
Nearly 300 kilometres northwest, Dale Gryba is expecting an average canola crop on his farm near Gilbert Plains. Gryba said his fields suffered from excess moisture and he’s still swathing canola on his farm
Growers in other parts of western Manitoba are recording yields of 35 to 50 bu. per acre, based on government estimates. The Manitoba re-cord for average canola yield was set in 2009 at 39.8 bu. per acre.
