Manitoba farmers made headway in the fields over the past week, with the provincial harvest now pushing closer to the halfway point despite bouts of rain, frost, and cool weather.
The weekly crop report released Tuesday pegged overall harvest progress at 40% complete as of Sunday, an 11-point increase from the previous week. Progress is furthest along in the Central Region at 51%, followed by the Interlake at 49%, the Eastern at 38%, the Northwest at 35%, and the Southwest at 33%.
Among major crops, dry peas are now essentially wrapped up, while 79% of spring wheat is in the bin. Barley and oats are 77% and 63% harvested, respectively. Canola is estimated at 18% complete.
Spring wheat yields are averaging 50 to more than 60 bu/acre depending on the region. Oat yields range from 100 to 150 bu/acre, while barley is coming off at 60 to 70 bu/acre. Canola yields are proving variable, running anywhere from 30 to more than 60 bu/acre. Swathing and desiccation of canola remains ongoing.
Corn is in the R5 (dent) stage, flax has reached the brown capsule stage, and sunflowers have largely completed flowering. Soybeans are in the R6 to R7 growth stage, while dry beans are at the R8 to R9 stage.
Precipitation during the week ranged widely, from just 4 mm in some areas to as much as 77.5 mm at Kane. The Red River Valley and Riding Mountain regions recorded accumulations of 15 mm or more, contributing to slower fieldwork.
In the Southwest, wet weather limited harvest activity for much of the week. While frost touched some crops Friday and Saturday, temperatures of -1 to –2 degrees C appear to have caused only minimal damage. Late-seeded canola may show some impact, though most soybeans were past vulnerable stages.
The Northwest also saw harvest interruptions as rain and unsettled weather swept through. Laurier recorded the lowest temperature at -1.6 C, and hail damage around Inglis and Benito remains under assessment.
In the Central Region, rainfall of 10 to 30 mm combined with frost and heavy dews slowed progress and kept some fields inaccessible.
The Eastern Region saw 8 to 41 mm of rain, with frost events south of Beausejour. Harvest activity largely ground to a halt.
Meanwhile, in the Interlake, rainfall caused short delays but producers continued to make steady progress while also focusing on drying grain and crop management tasks, the crop report said.
