Farmers in eastern Manitoba had harvested just over half of their crop when the rain started Sept. 16. Thirty-two hours later, many of those fields looked more like rice paddies.
Harvest in the region temporarily stalled, with about 54 per cent of acres harvested, while excess moisture from strong storms Sept. 16-17 drained away.
Why it matters: Harvest delays, field access issues and potential crop damage—particularly in any crops with the misfortune to be in the swath—are top of mind for farmers in eastern and parts of central Manitoba after storms swept through the area.
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The Red River Valley and areas to the east took the brunt of the storms, according to a weather summary from Manitoba Agriculture. Elma topped the province, with 206.4 millimetres fallen over 23 hours between Sept. 16-17. Steinbach went under 155.3 millimetres of water, while flood stories from the nearby village of Kleefeld made rounds over social media. Video included residents kayaking down streets and flood waters reaching high up the sides of vehicles.
Impacts also spread into east central Manitoba. Windygates reported 113.9 millimetres, while Winkler saw 133.4 millimetres. Harvest in central Manitoba was about 68 per cent complete at the time, according to Manitoba Agriculture’s weekly crop report.
Almost all cereal harvest was done, the province noted, although only 70 per cent of central Manitoba’s canola and 40 per cent of canola in eastern Manitoba was likewise locked in. About a quarter of the dry beans in central Manitoba were harvested.
Soybeans, however, were largely still standing. Province-wide, soybeans were anywhere from beginning to full maturity. Authors of the provincial crop report expected soybean harvest might start in central and eastern Manitoba within the week, prior to the rain.
“There’s definitely lots of water accumulating in fields,” said Lionel Kaskiw, crop production extension specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, during a Sept. 18 Crop Talk webinar hosted by the province. “It’s going to be two or three days here before we definitely see harvesting happening again.”
The flooding has caused significant challenges, especially in lower-lying areas. “There’s going to be some issues getting into these fields and getting back into harvest,” Kaskiw said. “It’s going to take some pretty good weather to dry up all this moisture.”
The weather is making harvest a “nightmare,” said Korey Peters, a producer near Randolph, Man., just west of Steinbach.
“We have tracks (for our equipment), but it will make tracks on our fields and (we’ll) be forced to do heavy tillage to fix it. Plus, now (we’re) forced to leave trucks on the road and bring (the) grain cart onto (the) road to fill, then come later with (the) tractor to clean mud off [the] road for safety issues,” he told the Co-operator Sept. 17.
However, Peters said he doesn’t think the heavy rain will affect the his harvest results, since most of his crops are already shutting down.
“(It) might help corn a bit, but that’s about it,” he said.
Unharvested canola, likewise, shouldn’t be too bothered, said Dennis Lange, pulse crop specialist. “Canola tends to be a little better with respect to moisture.”
Alison Sass, an agricultural meteorology specialist, highlighted rainfall totals in places like Elma and St. Pierre, which saw 112 millimetres over a short six-hour window. That community’s rainfall total racked up to 167.1 millimetres over the two days.
There wwas more rain in the forecast for part of the province through the remainder of the second-last week of September and through the weekend. Storms in western and west-central Manitoba Sept. 18 brought smaller totals, topped by 40 millimetres recorded at Shilo, west of Brandon.
“It’s definitely not ideal to have these wet conditions during harvest,” Sass noted.
Forecast
Looking further ahead, Sass expects above-normal temperatures for the next 20 days, which could help speed up drying in waterlogged fields. Long-term forecasts also show a slight chance of below-normal precipitation for the next three months, which may be helpful in the final stages of harvest.
The combination of saturated fields and shorter, cooler days, however, has raised concern about harvest challenges for the remainder of the season.
“Days are getting shorter and our heat units are going to be going down,” Kaskiw said.
Sass recommended farmers take advantage of weather forecasting tools, including Spot Weather, Environment Canada’s resources, and Windy.com, encouraging farmers to stay informed and plan accordingly.
