Pulse specialist says crops look good but are still behind schedule

Manitoba's soybean crop continues to impress.

"Most of the beans are right now in that R5 to R6 growth stage," said Dennis Lange, pulse specialist with Manitoba Agriculture. "Some of the really late planted fields are just past R4. For the most part the crops look pretty good. We've had some good rainfall in the area and they are doing quite well this year. A lot better than what we have seen in the past. Some years we've started to see the crop dry down already by now because of lack of moisture but this year the potential looks really good."

Lange says there's about 900,000 acres of soybeans being grown in Manitoba this year, which is down from previous years. He notes some farmers have been spraying for soybean aphids.

Meanwhile, Manitoba's field pea harvest is just getting underway.

Lange commented on what he's seeing in the Red River Valley.

"There's still the odd green plant hanging around yet, so it might be within the next couple of days, towards the end of the week, we'll see some spraying in this area. Further west I think they are further ahead. I haven't heard any yield numbers yet. There might be the odd field that's been harvested but right now it's still early in the process."

He notes the field pea harvest is usually well underway by this point in the season.

As for dry beans, that crop is starting to turn.

"I've seen some seed colour change already in some black beans," commented Lange. "From the road, just looking at the fields, we're starting to see seed colour change happening already. No desiccation happening as of yet. We're still a little early for that. Maybe another week or so. Those are more for the earlier types that we're seeing. Some of the early varieties like blackstrap for example would be one that, in this area, would be starting to yellow off."