Corn, Sunflower Planting Getting Underway

Corn planting is getting underway in Manitoba.

Morgan Cott is an Agronomy Extension Specialist with the Manitoba Crop Alliance.

"There was some corn starting this past week. At least in the Valley. I think quite a few guys got a number of acres in," she said. "Corn won't germinate until the soil is at least 10 degrees Celsius so we want to plant as soon as that time is possible. Don't like to go too much earlier and if you're planting after that, it will just germinate faster as long as there's moisture."

She notes fields are still dry, however, the top couple of inches still have a bit of moisture from the snow and recent rain. Cott says the biggest concern is planting into uneven soil moisture because that leads to uneven emergence which is a greater issue than delaying emergence.

Cott adds sunflower planting is also getting started.

"I think that some will be starting this week. I've heard from one producer recently who's going to get some in today (Monday). I think now that it is starting to warm up and we have more potential, I think that sunflowers are probably going to be a go."

She notes corn planting usually starts the first week of May, while sunflowers usually go in the first or second week of May.