Cooler weather slow crop development in Manitoba

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There is some colour change in oats, which means that crop is still a few weeks away from significant harvest activity.

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Canola continues to be in a broad range of crop stages. Frey said there are very few flowers remaining in most fields, although some later-seeded crops and low-lying areas are still catching up.

“We see that the (canola) pods have formed and are beginning to lengthen and possibly look a little bit more than just those flat pods that are dangling. But for the most part, we see that they’re just getting along and not filling out quite yet.”

Frey said there have been very few incidents of insect damage, although there have been some sightings of Bertha armyworms and grasshoppers.

“Maybe part of that, especially in the grasshopper front, is due to having some wetter weather this year, which they tend not to like because they get a lot of diseases and that sort of thing that keeps their population down. Bad news for them, but good news for us.”

For livestock producers, forage harvest continues, with good yields and quality reported. Frey said much of the haying has been completed with favourable weather over the past couple of weeks.

“There are some reports of folks that have maybe taken a later cut than they anticipated and are needing to just work out the timing on that, especially as we haven’t had as much hot weather to dry those stands out very quickly,” Frey said. “On the note of taking a second cut, especially of alfalfa, we are approaching that critical period when it’s recommended to just wait until the alfalfa has actually received some much colder weather that slows that growth down.”

Cattle are largely in very good condition, with dugouts averaging about 70 per cent full, providing adequate water supplies overall.

“Good news about this return to slightly cooler temperatures is that the cattle are grazing more than just seeking shelter during some of those very hot days we had a couple of weeks ago. That helps them to also remain in good shape,” Frey said.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com