Manitoba Agriculture reports reduced rain and higher temperatures over the past week have helped speed along crop development, especially for crops like soybeans, corn and dry beans. Manitoba Agriculture released its weekly crop report Tuesday.Dennis Lange, a pulse and soybean specialist with Manitoba Agriculture and editor of the provincial crop report, says in spite of warmer temperatures and reduced rain soil moisture is still optimal to wet.
Quote-Dennis Lange-Manitoba Agriculture:
This past week rainfall amounts ranged from just a trace to 51 millimetres and the big thing with the rainfall, there were just some isolated thunderstorms that dumped rain in different areas.Most of week was fairly dry and, as we move forward here, most of Manitoba right now at that 30-centimeter soil moisture depth is showing optimal to wet moisture conditions at surface depth, so we're good moisture wise right now.
When we look at accumulated growing degree days, most of Manitoba ranges from about 95 to 110 percent of the normal growing degree days.We're definitely starting to warm up a little bit, maybe not quite as warm as what it was last year by this time, but things are definitely starting to warm up and that's definitely been benefitting some of the longer season crops like soybeans and corn and dry beans.