Rainfall across much of farming Manitoba over the long weekend held up harvest progress on a relatively small remainder of its crops, the provincial agriculture department reported today.
Rain was welcome after a week of largely warm and dry conditions in most areas where farmers have seeded winter wheat and fall rye. However, the wet weather hindered harvest further for regions already expecting diminishing returns from poor conditions, such as in the northwestern region around The Pas where about half the canola crop remains to be combined.
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The rain is also expected to slow drydown in sunflower crops in southern areas, and to add another two to three days for digging on the last 2,000 acres of potatoes. Eastern areas of the province, which still have grain corn, soybeans and sunflowers to harvest, saw weekend rainfall ranging from one inch (Steinbach) up to four inches (Sprague).
Cereal and canola harvests are generally complete otherwise across most of the province. The most recent canola yield reports have been in the 20-30 bu./ac. range, the province said. Recent flax yields have ranged from 20 to 35 bu./ac.
The hay harvest is about 95 per cent complete, the ag department noted. Dry conditions in recent weeks hindered regrowth for the final cut, so many producers opted to graze rather than cut. High-quality hay volumes are still expected to be below average, while medium- to low-quality hay will be above average. Soil moisture also improved on some pastures, though some livestock producers in the central region south of Portage la Prairie have still had to fall back on supplemental feed. Others, mindful of poor prices, are considering backgrounding this year’s calves.
The province also predicts a significant drop in this year’s honey harvest, estimated at 5.6 million kg compared to the record 8.5 million kg in 2006. Average yields per colony are estimated to have dropped from 100 kg in 2006 to 73 kg this year — just two kg below the long-term provincial average.
