The Manitoba harvest has just about wrapped up for the year, with snow moving into parts of the province this past week.
Wednesday’s crop report pegged the overall Manitoba harvest at 93% complete as of Monday, up from 86% the previous week. The Central Region is the furthest advanced at 98% done, followed closely by the Interlake at 93%, the Northwest at 92%, and the Southwest and the Eastern Region at 91%.
Spring cereals are essentially now all in the bin, with the canola and dry bean harvest at 96% complete, soybeans at 90%, flax at 76%, and corn at 42%. The sunflower harvest was 17% done as of Monday.
Yields across the province are generally strong, though wet harvest conditions have affected quality in some spring cereals. Spring wheat is averaging 60+ bu/ac, with standout yields reaching 70–90 bu/ac. Oat yields range between 110 and 130 bu/ac, and barley from 65 to over 110 bu/ac.
Canola harvest continues, with yields between 30 and 70 bu/ac and an average near 45 bu/ac. Flax harvest is nearing completion, and sunflower harvest has begun, though many growers are waiting for crops to dry down further.
Wet and windy weather marked the past week across much of Manitoba, with gusts exceeding 60 km/hr and heavy precipitation in several regions. The Eastern and Northwest regions saw the greatest rainfall, with The Pas recording 65.7 mm. Snowfall blanketed some parts of the Northwest, while the Southwest remained largely dry. Precipitation totals since May 1 vary widely across the province: the Central, Eastern, and Northwest regions have accumulated more than 220 mm, while the Interlake and portions of the Northwest remain below 60% of their 30-year average. Parts of the Central and Southwest regions have received more than 100% of normal rainfall.
Soil moisture conditions mirror that variability. The Interlake continues to show areas of dryness, while other regions are wet following recent storms. Wet soils were especially prevalent in the Southwest, Central, Eastern, and Northwest regions, the report said.
Winter cereal planting has wrapped up successfully, with crops emerging well and most at the three-leaf stage.
