Manitoba Agriculture reports significant progress in seeding activities across the province, with favorable weather conditions contributing to an accelerated pace. Sonya Wilson, Oilseed Specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, provided an update on the current state of seeding.
"Seeding has progressed quite a bit over the past week," Wilson noted. "We didn't have a lot of rainfall, and with the higher temperatures and wind, especially, a lot of the fields were accessible." This has led to a notable increase in the number of spring wheat acres seeded. As of now, approximately 8% of seeding is complete, which is ahead of the five-year average of 6% and significantly higher than last year's average of 4%.
So far, about half of the acres in the central and Interlake regions have been seeded with spring wheat, and all other regions are progressing quickly as well. Some oats and barley are going in the southwest, central, eastern, and Interlake regions." The northwest region is slightly behind due to its location.
In terms of oilseeds, a bit of canola has started to go in the central region, and sunflowers are being seeded in central and Interlake. Field peas are rapidly progressing in all regions, and soybean crops have just begun in the central, eastern, and Interlake areas. Other pulses have not yet started.
Winter cereals are also looking promising. "Most of the fertilizer applications have been completed," Wilson said. "Both winter wheat and fall rye are looking quite good, and they have had some really warm weather as well. Some nighttime temperatures have dipped lower in some regions, but so far there's no cause for concern."
Regarding insect concerns, Wilson mentioned that it is still early in the season. "We have reports that striped flea beetles are out, but there hasn't really been a ton of seeded canola, and nothing has popped up that I'm aware of other than volunteers." She advised farmers to stay aware of potential insect issues.
For forage and livestock, some perennial forages and corn have been going in, and any hay fields or fertilizer applications have been pretty standard. She notes there's been a lot of activity because we haven't had any rainfall, so it's been full steam ahead.