Crop and weather update:

Peace (B.C. and Alberta): Most of the Peace still needs rain. A few tenths in spots last week isn’t enough. The north got timely rains, but many canola fields in the rest of the region are showing signs of stress: thin stands, purpling, cupping, bud blasting. Most crops are in the range of 30% to 70% flower.

Alberta: Crops in south are a week to three weeks behind. Large systems dropped golf-ball sized hail on a swath east of Calgary and brought strong winds, 2” to 4” of rain and spotty hail through the central region. That said, crops are good to excellent for most of Alberta, and moving quickly through the flowering window. Spraying for sclerotinia has been common in many parts of the region. Read the Alberta crop report.

Saskatchewan:
Yield potential for surviving crop in the worst hit areas — Wadena — could be as low as 5 bushels/acre in some fields. But some crops in the east, particularly around Redvers, look very good. Western crops look good, too. Tests in the northwest found 60% to 100% of petals had presence of sclerotinia, and 15% to 20% of crops north of Highway 16 were sprayed for the disease. Fungicide application was the most ever for canola in the area, says Clint Jurke, CCC agronomy specialist for the region. Most crops are in the flowering stages.Read the Saskatchewan crop report.

Manitoba:
Heavy rains last night put fields under standing water again in eastern regions. Until then, a generally drier week had allowed crops to recover from earlier moisture stress. Early fields are done flowering. Crop conditions are highly variable, particularly in the eastern and Interlake regions. In the northwest, half to 65% of fields received a fungicide treatment to prevent sclerotinia stem rot, which is probably less than typical for the region due mainly to poor crop condition in some fields.