Summary of crop conditions, week of July 18 to July 24.
Alberta
Peace
A mixture of weather patterns in the Peace has created everything from too much rain at Grande Prairie to drought from Manning north. About 7,000 acres may be written off in this dry area. Some crops showing signs of stress in the wetter areas. Community pastures are drying up. In the southern Peace crops are described as average. Haying is about half done with yields less than a tonne per acre.
North/Central
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The northeast is extremely dry and a number of canola fields have been turned over. Barley is being salvaged for greenfeed and hayfields are going for pasture in the Bonnyville-St. Paul-Wainwright localities. In Stettler-Drumheller crops are doing well. South and east of Coronation conditions are very dry. Hay shortage is likely. First cut varies from 50 to 70 percent complete. Grasshoppers and Bertha army worms are reported .
South
Most areas are doing well. The Taber area is forecasting a huge canola crop. Corn crops are slightly behind. Some leaf diseases have appeared in cereals. Vauxhall-Enchant experiencing drier weather. Haying almost complete in the far south but frequent showers downgraded quality. Calgary-Strathmore crops are good. Traps for Bertha army worms from Vulcan to Arrowwood showing a high number.
Saskatchewan
North
Many areas are still bone dry. The moisture will help wheat and canola. Late-seeded canola has the best potential for recovering. Some canola has finished flowering but others blossoming now.Wheat and barley now filling. Not been enough moisture for a good second cut of hay. Bertha army worms are expected in the next week.
Central
Crops still behind average in most east-central areas because of late seeding. Some canola still has two weeks of flowering left. Wheat headed and flowering. Wheat midge a problem. Producers are checking Bertha army worm numbers in canola.
West-central Saskatchewan is dry in the north and wet in the south. Wheat is finished flowering and most canola is podding. Wheat expected to be average or slightly below. Hay disappointing.
South
Moisture conditions good except in Ponteix-Hodgeville area. Wheat in southwest is nearing maturity. Canola and mustard have finished flowering. Haying slowed by rains. Producers are looking out for a recurrence of diamond-back moths.
Conditions in southeast are mixed. Wheat midge infestations are widespread. Producers are waiting for the second generation of diamond-back moths and some have started spraying for Bertha army worms. The hay crop was above average.
Manitoba
Northwest/Interlake
While northern areas have adequate soil moisture, southern and eastern parts of this region have suffered from heat and drought. Cereals are almost all headed; 15 percent are in the dough stage. Canola is podding. Flax is flowering with 10 percent in the boll stage. Second-generation diamond-back moth adults are laying eggs. Hay yields are generally below average. Feed shortages are expected.
West
Cereals are headed except around Killarney, which has variable development. Canola, flax and peas are flowering, and some early peas are podded. The diamond-back moth is between stages. Farmers in the Melita area are spraying for Bertha army worm. High levels of root rot have been observed in some pea fields. Anthracnose is at low levels in most lentil fields, except around Hartney and Elgin.
Red River Valley
Gladstone and Morden received some hail. Wheat and barley are progressing into the soft dough stage. Flax is flowering; canola is starting to pod. Sclerotinia spraying is almost done. Diamond-back moths and Bertha larvae are present in canola. Some farmers around Portage la Prairie are spraying for grasshoppers. The second cut of alfalfa is starting. In southern areas, moderate to high levels of leaf rust on Katepwa wheat has been observed.
Highlights:
“The crops have suffered, but it’s hard to really say how much until harvest comes around. You can tell with the hay, because you’ve harvested it and it’s below average and even worse in some areas.
– Allen Kokolski, Manitoba Agriculre, Dauphin
Source: Provincial agriculture departments, Alberta Wheat Pool, Saskatchewan Wheat Pool
