Canadian dry bean crop fairs well

Canada might be the one dry bean growing region in North and South America that does okay this year. “Right now I’m looking at an average crop,” said Dennis Lange, provincial pulse specialist with Manitoba Agriculture. The crop could really use another 25 millimetres of rain to achieve his target of 1,400 to 1,500 pounds per acre. “We’re kind of at a critical time now where the pods are filling,” he said. Bean acres are down in the province, falling to an estimated 153,000 acres from 185,000 acres the year before. Lange said crops in the northern area between Treherne and Portage la Prairie are doing well, while those in the Winkler to Carman region will likely have below average yields due to dry conditions and early-season wind damage. “I did see some plants get sheared off,” he said. Beans are a late-seeded crop that were able to benefit from some of the recent rainfall, which arrived too late for a crop like peas. They also tend to fare better than other crops in dry years. ...