MarketsFarm — Despite varied amounts of rainfall across the southern half of Manitoba over the past few weeks, pulses are faring quite well according to the province’s pulse specialist.
Dennis Lange, who’s based at Altona, said while peas in fields with excessive moisture are struggling, those grown in adequate moisture and lighter soils are in good shape.
“The peas are looking very good. They are getting into flowering right now,” he said. “Growers are looking at their first fungicide application. I am hearing there doesn’t seem to be a lot of disease at this point. Growers are just monitoring their fields to make that decision when they should spray. So I’m assuming over the next week or so, there will be more spraying done.”
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Just like peas, dry beans are also doing well, according to Lange. The crop was largely affected by heavy rains in the spring, which delayed seeding into late May and early June.
“Moisture conditions, depending on where you are, either you don’t need anything or you could use an inch,” Lange added. “Getting an inch of rain in areas that have been dry over the past few weeks would be a good thing. For the most part, things are looking alright.”
However, Lange understands that pre-seeding acreage projections will not come to fruition, anticipating marked drops in soybean, field pea and dry bean acres. He is waiting on the province to release its crop insurance numbers later this month to gain a better idea of how much seeding area was lost.
In Statistics Canada’s acreage estimates for Manitoba crops released earlier this month, edible beans were at 125,400 acres (down from 193,300 in 2021), peas were at 188,600 (down from 224,100) and soybeans were at 1.135 million (down from 1.317 million).
What will affect yields, Lange added, is how much timely rain will fall on pulse crops over the next month or so. In the present, last year’s drought conditions are in the past.
“We are in a better situation than we were in last year. Last year, things were super dry and we didn’t get any rains and that really affected the peas, even though peas do like it drier,” he said.
This year, he added, “I think overall I’m pretty happy with what I’ve seen so far.”
— Adam Peleshaty reports for MarketsFarm from Stonewall, Man.
