Manitoba Agriculture reports, with spring seeding just getting underway across the province, about three percent of this year’s crop is now in the ground.
Sonia Wilson, an oilseed specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, says soil moisture at this point is looking good but we do have low lying areas that still have quite a bit of moisture and precipitation was variable over the past week with the central and southwest regions receiving more than others so we are seeing more seeding happing in other regions.
Some spring wheat acres as well as field peas and a little bit of oats are going in. Currently spring work is looking, in terms of seeing, at about three percent complete across the province. That’s slightly ahead of our five-year average of one percent. A couple of factors, we did have some precipitation in the past week in different areas so some field conditions being a bit to wet to move into for seeding but otherwise some areas are for sure ready to go and it has started as well as other field work such as top dressing for the winter crops as well as other field crops.
In terms of crops being seeded, we do have the spring seeded report from Statistics Canada that was forecasted for Manitoba. We saw a bit of an increase in the forecast in terms of spring wheat acres, a bit of a decrease for canola acres as well as a bit of an increase for soybean acres. This is what has been forecasted but, in terms of what’s currently being seeded it’s definitely been spring wheat, peas and the oats that I’ve mentioned over this past week and I think the next crop would be putting in sunflowers in the week ahead.
~ Sonia Wilson, Manitoba Agriculture
Wilson says the main factors farmers will be considering as they move into the fields will be available moisture and soil temperatures. She notes crops like canola will do much better when planted into soil that is at five degrees Celsius or above.
