Warm and Dry

Warm and Dry

Relatively warm temperatures occurred across much of western Canada last week with very little precipitation. Much of the Prairies are dry and require additional moisture soon with the exception of the eastern and Interlake regions of Manitoba, which continue to be wet in many areas. In areas with inadequate soil moisture, the relatively high temperatures are beginning to stress much of the canola crop. Heat stress (wilting) and flower blasting have been observed in many areas across the Prairies. Although crop development was accelerated with recent warm conditions, most areas continue to report crop maturity about one to two weeks later than normal. Flower blasting is undesirable because yield will be impacted. However, the trade-off is that a termination to flowering hastens maturity. Earliest seeded canola fields are at the 50% bloom to fully podded stage and re-seeded fields are bolting to early flower.

Maps of current moisture conditions in western Canada from PFRA are available at:
http://www.agr.gc.ca/pfra/drought/prpay09_e.htm
http://www.agr.gc.ca/pfra/drought/prpgs09_e.htm
Additional moisture information for Alberta is available from Alberta Environment at:
http://www.environment.alberta.ca/forecasting/data/precipmaps/weekly.pdf

The latest crop report from Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture is available at: http://www.agriculture.gov.sk.ca/crprpt090723
The latest crop report from Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development is available at:
http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/sdd4191#2009
The following maps show growing degree days accumulating across western Canada this growing season: http://www.agr.gc.ca/pfra/drought/prtgdd_e.htm