Crop Report - 5 May 2021

May 05, 2021

Cool, dry soils have slowed seeding and crop emergence, where some farms have caught up to their intended seeding goals to date, waiting for warmer temperatures to plant crops that are more sensitive.

Provincial seeding progress sits at 18%, on par for the 4-year average.

Conserving existing soil moisture remains top of mind for many farmers. Many farms are using limited disturbance openers for fertilizer and seeding, where possible.

Rain over the weekend helped keep dust down, and provide a little seedbed moisture, but will quickly dissipate.

Flea beetles are out and looking for food sources. Some canola growers in the southern Interlake have delayed canola seeding until forecasts look more favourable for rapid germination and emergence.

The Prairie Pest Monitoring Network has highlighted cutworms as a pest to keep an eye out when scouting pre-emergent or early-emerged crops.

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Video: Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way

Harvest is a week out and the farm picked this week to fall apart. The truck needs a battery, the barn curtain's got a problem, and the corn and beans are telling us we're out of time to get it all fixed.

So it's a full day of wrenching. Tork supervises while I get the truck back running, then we're out at the hog barn where one rusted up part has the whole curtain system hung up. Ladder work, cable work, and a little dad-and-son disagreement about the right way to do it. We close it out walking the fields, shelling beans and checking corn, because whether everything's fixed or not, harvest starts when harvest starts.

Chapters: 00:00 Everything breaks the week before harvest 01:00 Tork supervises while I fix the truck 12:30 Out to the barn to find the curtain problem 14:30 One rusty part hung up the whole curtain 20:00 Running the curtain cable from the ladder 24:00 Walking the beans and corn before harvest 26:30 Wrapping up

We're a 6th generation family farm in southeast Iowa showing the real ups and downs of pig farming and row crop farming. No script, just the work. Subscribe and follow along.

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