In general, the past week was one of good growing conditions for Manitoba crops, however some thunderstorms did roll through areas of the province, which caused some crop lodging.

Manitoba Agriculture cereal specialist Pam de Rocquigny says crops are advancing quickly, with a majority of acres and crop types in the flowering stages, while cereals are well into the grain fill stages of development.

"I think we expect to start to see some of our winter cereals, you know, in particular our fall rye harvest may begin depending on weather conditions in a short while here. So you know, compared to last year, we're probably close, but it's always difficult to make comparisons from year to year," de Rocquigny says.

Disease pressure and insect activity also continues to be monitored as the growing season progresses, although de Rocquigny says there are no major issues at the moment. However, the weather conditions so far have been conducive to disease development.

"We've seen some insect activity being reported," she says, "you know, some grasshoppers are feeding, we've seen some alfalfa weevil activity in some of our alfalfa fields. We've been doing our insect monitoring programs through Manitoba Agriculture, and generally populations have been low for those insects that we monitor."

De Rocquigny says producers are applying fungicides where needed, adding that many producers are still opting for aerial applications, as fields have been too wet for field equipment.