Farmscape for August 25, 2011   (Episode 3472)

The Canadian Wheat Board reports hot dry weather during July and August has helped crops throughout the eastern prairies catch up after a late start to spring planting and delayed early development due to cold wet weather.

The 2011 growing season has been characterized by a late spring followed by excessive moisture and flooding which delayed planting and slowed crop development.

Bruce Burnett, the director of weather and market analysis with the Canadian Wheat Board, says we've gone from a situation in the spring in the eastern prairies where heavy rains prevented planting to one where fairly dry conditions during July and August have accelerated crop growth and allowed the harvest to move forward.

Clip-Bruce Burnett-Canadian Wheat Board:
Overall our crops in Manitoba, as we monitor them, at the beginning of the week we were close to ten percent complete.

Of course the bulk of the crops that were harvested were some early harvested specialty crops and winter wheat where harvesting is moving along quite rapidly and going to probably in most areas wrap up this week but we're also seeing good progress now on spring wheat and canola harvests as well.

Although ten percent at the beginning of the week would be slightly behind normal, with the weather conditions that we're seeing this week we're probably going to be at or maybe even a little ahead of normal in Manitoba.

Most of the harvesting of spring cereal crops is south of number one highway and in eastern Manitoba, those areas where we see general progress but by the end of this week and into early next we're going to see most of the rest of the province start up with the spring harvest.

Burnett says, while warm weather in eastern Saskatchewan has pushed crop development along, average to below average temperatures during June, July and August in western Saskatchewan and Alberta have delayed crop growth so we're seeing limited harvest activity there.

He says areas in central and northern Alberta will need another two weeks of frost free weather to get the crops matured.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

       * Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork Council