Early Manitoba Planting Held Back by Rain

May 09, 2024

Wet conditions are holding back planting in Manitoba relative to normal.

The weekly crop report on Tuesday pegged seeding across the province at 4% complete, up just 2 points from a week earlier and 5 points behind the five-year average. However, planting is still ahead of last year, when 0% of the crop was in the ground.

Spring wheat and barley are sitting at 9% complete across the province with the Central region being the most advanced at 12% complete. Earliest planted fields have started to emerge. Field pea planting is at 11% complete across the province. The Northwest region is the most advanced at 25% complete and the Southwest region is at 7% complete.

There have been a few reports of soybeans being planted where soil conditions have been suitable, the report added.

Winter wheat and fall rye survival is decent, with most producers observing winter cereal survival to be 80 - 90%. Most producers have completed fertilizer applications in their winter cereals.

Recent rains have helped stimulate pasture growth and the landscape is beginning to green-up. Hay fields are in good shape, although icy conditions experienced this winter may have taken their toll on alfalfa plants in some locations..

Southwest:

The southwest region had rainy weather conditions during the week. Most areas received 20-30 mm of rain. Killarney and Wawanesa areas received 30-35 mm of rain. This past week saw daytime air temperature up to 20.5°C with overnight temperature down to -2.8°C. Producers have started seeding in selected fields according to the seedbed conditions. Soil moisture is at optimum levels in most of the region.

8% of spring wheat, 10% of barley, and 7% of peas are planted. Some early-seeded crops have germinated but no emergence being reported yet.

Winter wheat and fall rye crops responded to the recent rains well and growth is looking promising. Fertilizer applications are still ongoing.

Northwest:

A good start to the week, with field operations beginning across most of the region. Cool, wet weather set in midweek bringing precipitation to most of the region. Soil moisture is considered adequate. Most field operations were paused during the rain, although a few were able to resume shortly after. The weekend brought good drying weather as well as good progress to either start or resume operations.

Field pea seeding is making good progress across most of the region at approximately 25% complete, being more advanced towards Roblin area. Spring wheat seeding is also nicely getting started and is approximately 10% complete across the region. Winter wheat and fall rye conditions vary across the region. There have been very few claims for winterkill damage.

Central:

The past week was marked by prolonged periods of light rainfall across the Central region. All locations reported at least 14 mm. The extreme southeast of the region received the most rainfall with Windygates, Emerson, Gretna, and Altona all receiving more than 30 mm. These recent rainfalls and cooler temperatures have halted field operations for the time being, with some fields having standing water in low lying areas.

Although very little seeding progress was made over the past week due to the wet conditions, progress sits at approximately 12% for oats, spring wheat, barley, and peas. A small number of producers have begun to seed canola, corn, and potatoes. The proportion of each crop seeded varies greatly at the local level across the region, with percentage of crops in the ground lower in the northwest and higher in the southeast.

Winter wheat and fall rye is growing quickly. Most producers have completed fertilizer applications in their winter cereals before the recent rainfall and are observing winter cereal survival to be 80 - 90%.

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Video: Why Your Food Future Could be Trapped in a Seed Morgue

In a world of PowerPoint overload, Rex Bernardo stands out. No bullet points. No charts. No jargon. Just stories and photographs. At this year’s National Association for Plant Breeding conference on the Big Island of Hawaii, he stood before a room of peers — all experts in the science of seeds — and did something radical: he showed them images. He told them stories. And he asked them to remember not what they saw, but how they felt.

Bernardo, recipient of the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award, has spent his career searching for the genetic treasures tucked inside what plant breeders call exotic germplasm — ancient, often wild genetic lines that hold secrets to resilience, taste, and traits we've forgotten to value.

But Bernardo didn’t always think this way.

“I worked in private industry for nearly a decade,” he recalls. “I remember one breeder saying, ‘We’re making new hybrids, but they’re basically the same genetics.’ That stuck with me. Where is the new diversity going to come from?”

For Bernardo, part of the answer lies in the world’s gene banks — vast vaults of seed samples collected from every corner of the globe. Yet, he says, many of these vaults have quietly become “seed morgues.” “Something goes in, but it never comes out,” he explains. “We need to start treating these collections like living investments, not museums of dead potential.”

That potential — and the barriers to unlocking it — are deeply personal for Bernardo. He’s wrestled with international policies that prevent access to valuable lines (like North Korean corn) and with the slow, painstaking science of transferring useful traits from wild relatives into elite lines that farmers can actually grow. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. But he’s convinced that success starts not in the lab, but in the way we communicate.

“The fact sheet model isn’t cutting it anymore,” he says. “We hand out a paper about a new variety and think that’s enough. But stories? Plants you can see and touch? That’s what stays with people.”

Bernardo practices what he preaches. At the University of Minnesota, he helped launch a student-led breeding program that’s working to adapt leafy African vegetables for the Twin Cities’ African diaspora. The goal? Culturally relevant crops that mature in Minnesota’s shorter growing season — and can be regrown year after year.

“That’s real impact,” he says. “Helping people grow food that’s meaningful to them, not just what's commercially viable.”

He’s also brewed plant breeding into something more relatable — literally. Coffee and beer have become unexpected tools in his mission to make science accessible. His undergraduate course on coffee, for instance, connects the dots between genetics, geography, and culture. “Everyone drinks coffee,” he says. “It’s a conversation starter. It’s a gateway into plant science.”