Manitoba Agriculture

The Manitoba government is encouraging all Manitobans to celebrate the province’s agri-food system during the eighth annual Food and Farm Awareness Week.

“Manitoba’s agri-food industry produces a diverse range of delicious foods,” said Manitoba Agriculture Minister Derek Johnson. “I encourage Manitobans to celebrate Food and Farm Awareness Week by trying new local products.”

Manitoba Agriculture says ideal harvest conditions allowed for significant progress this past week.

Progress sits at 15% complete across the province, well behind the 5-year average of 51% completed by this time. The effect of delayed seeding, high humidity and frequent rains have had an impact delaying harvest.

Crop condition looks good to very good in most parts of the province, while the bulk of the crops have been desiccated.

Spring wheat harvest is expected to become widespread this week as crops dry down and weather forecasts remain warm and sunny.

Weekly Provincial Summary

Harvest has started in winter wheat and fall rye, with a good portion of those crops already combined. Reported yields are average for both crops, falling numbers are good in rye crops harvested prior to heavy rains last week, and no results yet on crop yet to be combined.

Summary

Insects: Insects of greatest concern currently are aphids in small grain cereals and soybeans, and grasshoppers. Insecticides have been applied for soybean aphid in some fields in Eastern and Central Manitoba. High populations of aphids are present in some fields of wheat, oats and barley, with insecticides applications occurring. There has been some spraying for Lygus bugs in canola in the Swan Valley area of the Northwest.

Weekly Provincial Summary

Manitoba Agriculture says crop quality varies widely, with southern areas of the province in better condition than areas further north, all dependent on rainfall accumulation and speed of drainage.

Fungicide application is slowing across Manitoba, as crops grow past the appropriate timing windows.

Producers have done much more fungicide application in 2022 than in recent years.

A few insect concerns have popped up in localized spots across Manitoba, with bertha armyworm spraying reported in the Eastern region.

Weekly Provincial Summary

Rainfall amounts varied across the province with the highest amounts falling in the Eastern and Interlake regions. Most locations in Manitoba received between 20 to 60 mm in the preceding seven days. The Northwest region is the exception, where rainfall amounts ranged from 1 to 32 mm.

Frequent rains and generally warm temperatures have elevated risk for many fungal diseases. Application is widespread for wheat, oat, barley, canola and pea crops.

Summary

Insects: Grasshoppers and pea aphids in peas were the insects of greatest concern from the past week. High levels of armyworms were found in a wheat field in the Eastern region. There were some additional findings of soybeans aphids near Carman, but still just at low levels. Bertha armyworm larvae have been found feeding on canola and lambsquarters in the Central region, but so far just at low and not economic levels.

In the latest crop report, Manitoba Agriculture says strong winds with recent thunderstorms were the primary driver of lodging events in spring wheat, oats, winter cereals, as well as some canola and corn crops. 

Farmers expect most crops to recover, but dense, lodged crop canopy can encourage rapid disease infection and associated yield losses.

Warm temperatures, high humidity, and frequent rain and unstable weather has elevated risk for many fungal diseases. 

Many crops have been, or will be sprayed with a fungicide, as application is widespread.

Summary

Insects: Economic populations of pea aphids on field peas have been reported from the Southwest and Central regions, and some insecticide applications have occurred. Grasshopper levels continue to be a concern in some areas.

Diseases: There is now a LOT going on in the disease world: bacterial blights in oats and peas, blackleg on lowermost leaves of canola, Septoria brown spot on unifoliate leaves of soybean, as well as higher risk of Fusarium head blight in small grain cereals and potential risk of Sclerotinia in canola.

Crops have advanced rapidly across all parts of Manitoba this past week, faster than many agronomists had expected. Rapidly growing crops have hastened crop flowering, and cereal and canola fungicide application is well underway.

Warm temperatures, high humidity, and rain in recent days has increased the risk for fusarium head blight and sclerotinia disease development in crops, and most farmers are choosing to use a preventative fungicide on spring cereals and canola. Spraying is also expected to begin in flax fields shortly, and continues on field peas for for mycosphaerella.