Sask., Man. soybeans survive with minor complications

CNS Canada — Soybean crops have persevered through the frosty spring for the most part, agricultural experts in Manitoba and Saskatchewan say.

Though farmers are still in the process of assessing damage, most plants had not yet emerged from the ground in both provinces when temperatures fell below freezing at the end of May.

Kristen Podolsky, a production specialist for Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers at Carman, said cool temperatures caused minimal damage in Manitoba.

“We had a frost over the weekend, but fortunately most of the crop will be OK,” she said.

Shannon Friesen, cropping management specialist for Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Knowledge Centre at Moose Jaw, said most of the planting was done near the end of May.

“There was some damage to some of those crops — not a whole bunch, because not a lot has emerged here yet,” Friesen said.

Manitoba and Saskatchewan are both expected to have soybean acreage comparable to last year’s.

Podolsky said projections for this year are similar to 2014, with the potential for an increase.

In 2014, Manitoba had 1.27 million acres of soybeans, according to Statistics Canada. Early estimates from StatsCan predict 1.3 million acres in the province for 2015.

Friesen said Saskatchewan will come close to last year’s area as well. Saskatchewan had 270,000 acres of soybeans in 2014, according to StatsCan; this year’s estimate so far is 335,000.

Friesen said the majority of soybean acres have already been planted. The crop insurance deadline is Friday (June 5), according to Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp.

Manitoba seeding started in early May, sooner than usual, and now seeding deadlines have passed in some areas, Podolsky said.

“We are now into the extended period. There might be a few producers wrapping up this week, but then that’s about it for soybeans.”

— Jade Markus writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.