Another hot, dry week made for excellent crop progression, according to the weekly Manitoba Crop Report.
Very little rain fell across the entire province, the most being seen in Sprague and The Pas, with 28.5mm and 21.8mm respectively.
Many locations saw no rain at all, with nothing in the logs for the Northwest, Southwest, and Interlake regions.
The week also finally brought the annual precipitation average down a bit, as Precipitation accumulation in most areas has exceeded 100% of normal precipitation since May 1, rather than more than 100%.
In Cereals, fall rye and winter wheat are drying down, with fields between the hard dough and physiological maturity. some fields have started to be harvested, but yeilds are unreported as of yet.
Early-seeded spring cereals range from hard dough to physiological maturity, and later planted fields are in the milk to soft dough stages.
Spring wheat quality is rated mostly fair to good with 5% of the crop being reported as poor in the Southwest, Northwest, Central, and Interlake regions
Corn is mostly between tasselling and silk, and barley is nearly ready to harvest.
Pulses and Soybeans benefitted from the heat, with field peas beginning to change color, and soybeans mostly in the R3 stage. soybeans are seeing a range from R2-R4 depending on the time of planting.
Forages are looking strong, as good progress has been made in haying. Hay yields are being reported in the 2.5-3 tonnes per acre range on tame hay stands.
The high humidity and heavy morning dew have made it difficult for hay to dry, which will lower quality. Some swaths have been flipped multiple times to improve drying. As a result, more producers have opted to use grass intended for hay as bale silage.
Pasture conditions have become overall dryer, but that has begun to slow down pasture growth noticeably in the northwest and southwest regions.
In the areas that are still damp, foot rot and pink eye are still a possible problem, and fly control is being attempted.
Dugouts are about 80% full on average, aside from the southwest, which is seeing overall dryer conditions.
Closer to home in the northwest region, the temperature hit a high of 33.7 c, which was logged at the Laurier station, and the lowest was recorded at Minitonas with a low of 5c overnight.
The high temperatures and dry conditions continue to deplete surface moisture.
Winter wheat and fall rye crops are in the hard dough stage and looking good in most areas.
Most spring wheat is in the soft dough stage while the remainder is in the milk stage.
Most field peas are in the R5 to R6 stage and the remainder of the crop is not far behind.
Some fields will be the appropriate stage for desiccation in the next week or so. A rain would benefit some crops in the last bit of pod development.
The majority of canola has completed flowering with the remainder of the crop continuing to flower and develop pods, though High temperatures have caused some pod abortion.
Soybean crops are in the R2 to R3 stage and looking good. The recent heat has helped advance the crops quickly. Rain would benefit the crops by helping fill pods.
Cooler, wetter conditions this week may cause issues, for crops that are drying down at this time, but there is some sunny weather in-store this weekend.
That's it for this week's crop report, here's wishing everyone a safe and successful summer.
