MarketsFarm — Springtime still seems distant for southern Manitoba as snow remains and freezing temperatures persist.
However, provincial pulse specialist Dennis Lange said current conditions are setting up well for seeding after temperatures rise and snow melts.
“We’re still a little ways off. There are still snow drifts in the fields in most areas of the south here,” he said. “I think this will be good for moisture, but we need a little bit of sunshine to start melting these snowbanks so we can start seeding. But that’s probably not going to happen until probably towards the end of April at this point with the peas.”
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Considering a large proportion of Manitoba’s pulse crops are grown in western Manitoba and the time of year some crops are seeded, Lange doesn’t anticipate them to be largely affected.
“There are some field peas in the (Red River) Valley, but typically most of them are in western Manitoba, in the Swan River area and north of Winnipeg, as well,” he said. “Dry bean planting doesn’t start until after the May long weekend… Soybeans start getting planted typically in the mid-May period.”
Lange also estimated seeded area for field peas in Manitoba to be between 160,000-170,000 acres, compared to 188,600 seeded last year, according to Statistics Canada. He predicted 1.2 million acres for soybeans in Manitoba this year, compared to 1.135 million in 2022, while also anticipating the seeded area for Manitoba dry beans to be similar to the 125,800 acres planted in 2022.
“Just some minor changes. Nothing dramatic that’s really affected (the crops). Sometimes, it’s just based on the season and the pricing all playing together,” Lange said. “Let’s get some warm weather and get some snow melting to get things moving in a spring-like direction.”
— Adam Peleshaty reports for MarketsFarm from Stonewall, Man.
