Farmers in southern Manitoba have been focusing their efforts on getting corn planted.

Morgan Cott is an agronomy extension specialist with the Manitoba Crop Alliance.

"Generally for Manitoba, corn planting, I would say that it is pretty nearly wrapped up," she said. "The majority of corn planting is done, I would say, but there will still be some flex acres I think will go in in the next little while."

Cott notes once you get into June, farmers will start to see a yield loss.

"We want it in before the end of May generally in Manitoba. Every day now, you'll see a hit on your yield, really. Unless we just have a fantastic and open fall, which would be fantastic of course for everything. Generally, you're going to see a bit of decline everyday and because corn is such a big crop, a little bit of a decline can make a lot of difference. Corn just does best when it's planted early, we know that."

She notes some of the earlier seeded corn is starting to emerge.

"I think that some of that earlier planted corn will be emerging. Something that was planted two weeks ago for sure will be I think because soils are nice and warm. If anything got in last week, there might be a small chance that it's emerging."

Cott commented on the rain from earlier in the week.

"Corn obviously loves moisture, but it doesn't like to sit in it for too long. It doesn't like its feet wet, really, but can handle it for a few days. Corn that's sitting in the water is just going to imbibe the moisture and bloat a little bit and then probably will rot in the ground."

She adds sunflowers and flax might be a good option for any acres that remain open.