Rain continues to create challenging planting conditions for Manitoba farmers

More heavy rains have led to very challenging planting conditions for Manitoba farmers.

But Manitoba Agriculture’s Amir Farooq says some work got done in the southwest part of the province over the long weekend.

“We got some good weather conditions and farmers started to go out,” Farooq said. “I would say we are still close to 10 percent done in our area.”

Farooq says seeding progress across Manitoba sits at about 10 percent complete, well behind the 5-year average of 77 percent for this time of year.

“Farmers are just seeding whatever is suitable in that field, like peas and cereals are the major thing and not much canola yet.” he said.

Planting progress is most advanced in the Swan Valley and Roblin areas, where wheat is about 10 percent seeded, and field peas are about 18 percent done.

Substantial rains have hampered spring seeding in Manitoba’s northwest region. Farooq says some fields that were flooded, required debris cleanup.