Manitoba Agriculture
Crop Report
August 8, 2023
Northwest Region
A week of hot temperatures moved the crops along in the region, although overnight temperatures continued to cool down to single digits. Precipitation amounts varied across the region this week, while some areas received minimal rain. There were thunderstorms that brought hail to some areas. Extent of damage is currently unknown.
Areas that have received minimal rainfall throughout the region are showing signs of stress. Water sources are continuing to dry out.
Fall rye and winter wheat harvest, in most of the region began over the weekend. Harvest in the Dauphin and Swan Valley area is approximately 80% complete. Perennial ryegrass harvest also began last week. Yields not reported at this time.
Spring cereals are in the soft to hard dough stages. Most advanced spring wheat has received pre-harvest applications, while the remaining crops continue not far behind. Depending on conditions, harvest of earliest seeded cereals is not far away.
Most of the canola across the region is podded. Approximately 10-15% of the canola is still flowering but should wrap up this week. Some sunscald is appearing with recent high temperatures. Aster yellow symptoms are noticeable in some fields.
Field peas are in the R6-R7 stages, with some field pea harvest starting over the weekend in the Swan Valleyarea. Desiccation has also begun in fields that have reached the appropriate stages.
Soybeans are mostly at the R5 stage while some varieties are headed into the R6 stage. Areas that have received rains during the pod filling stage are looking good. Fields that have not received adequate precipitation appear short and are showing signs of dry conditions.
Provincial Overview
Harvesting of winter wheat and fall rye continued with about 60% and 30% of acres combined, respectively. Early yield reports on winter wheat were averaging around 65 bu/acre. Spring cereal crops were in the intermediate to hard dough stage with the exception of very late seeded crops that were in soft dough. Disease pressure remains low due to the dry conditions this year, with levels of fusarium head blight in spring wheat expected to be low. A small number of ergot bodies have been found in some spring wheat fields. Overall, cereal crops remain in fair to mostly good condition although some oat fields seeded on light soils and in lower rainfall areas continued to show stress symptoms, most notably turning white and rapidly drying down.
Corn fields ranged from the R2 to early R3 growth stages. The crop remained in good to excellent condition in the Eastern and Interlake regions. In the Central region many cornfields are visibly water stressed. Most soybean fields were in the R5 growth stage. Overall crop condition remained good on most fields with the exception of some later seeded crop. In the Central region, soybeans and dry beans are showing signs of stress due to the lack of timely rainfall.
Producers are encouraged to scout their fields for weeds which have escaped control. This is an important part of integrated pest management. Waterhemp has been found in the Central and Eastern regions and producers should seek identification of any unusual pigweed in their field.