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Another hot, dry week made for excellent crop progression, according to the weekly Manitoba Crop Report.
Very little rain fell across the entire province, the most being seen in Sprague and The Pas, with 28.5mm and 21.8mm respectively.
Many locations saw no rain at all, with nothing in the logs for the Northwest, Southwest, and Interlake regions.
The week also finally brought the annual precipitation average down a bit, as Precipitation accumulation in most areas has exceeded 100% of normal precipitation since May 1, rather than more than 100%.
In Cereals, fall rye and winter wheat are drying down, with fields between the hard dough and physiological maturity. some fields have started to be harvested, but yeilds are unreported as of yet.
Early-seeded spring cereals range from hard dough to physiological maturity, and later planted fields are in the milk to soft dough stages.
Spring wheat quality is rated mostly fair to good with 5% of the crop being reported as poor in the Southwest, Northwest, Central, and Interlake regions
Corn is mostly between tasselling and silk, and barley is nearly ready to harvest.
Pulses and Soybeans benefitted from the heat, with field peas beginning to change color, and soybeans mostly in the R3 stage. soybeans are seeing a range from R2-R4 depending on the time of planting.
Forages are looking strong, as good progress has been made in haying. Hay yields are being reported in the 2.5-3 tonnes per acre range on tame hay stands.
The high humidity and heavy morning dew have made it difficult for hay to dry, which will lower quality. Some swaths have been flipped multiple times to improve drying. As a result, more producers have opted to use grass intended for hay as bale silage.
Pasture conditions have become overall dryer, but that has begun to slow down pasture growth noticeably in the northwest and southwest regions.
In the areas that are still damp, foot rot and pink eye are still a possible problem, and fly control is being attempted.
Dugouts are about 80% full on average, aside from the southwest, which is seeing overall dryer conditions.
Closer to home in the northwest region, the temperature hit a high of 33.7 c, which was logged at the Laurier station, and the lowest was recorded at Minitonas with a low of 5c overnight.
The high temperatures and dry conditions continue to deplete surface moisture.
Winter wheat and fall rye crops are in the hard dough stage and looking good in most areas.
Most spring wheat is in the soft dough stage while the remainder is in the milk stage.
Most field peas are in the R5 to R6 stage and the remainder of the crop is not far behind.
Some fields will be the appropriate stage for desiccation in the next week or so. A rain would benefit some crops in the last bit of pod development.
The majority of canola has completed flowering with the remainder of the crop continuing to flower and develop pods, though High temperatures have caused some pod abortion.
Soybean crops are in the R2 to R3 stage and looking good. The recent heat has helped advance the crops quickly. Rain would benefit the crops by helping fill pods.
Cooler, wetter conditions this week may cause issues, for crops that are drying down at this time, but there is some sunny weather in-store this weekend.
That's it for this week's crop report, here's wishing everyone a safe and successful summer.
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
The Ste. Rose RCMP have made an arrest, after a firearm was discharged on the ebb and flow first nation.
On August 2nd, at roughly 7:30 am, the detachment received a report that a shot was fired on Beaulieu Road in that community.
Upon arrival, RCMP learned 28-year-old Billy Roulette of Sandy Bay First Nation, had pointed a shotgun at people and held a female captive against her will for five days.
Roulette was detained and faces charges of Forcible confinement, Unauthorized Possession of a Firearm ,Pointing and Discharging a Firearm while being Reckless, weapons possession for a dangerous purpose, and disobeying a court order.
Roullette currently remains in custody.
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
Some residents of God's Lake First Nation in Northern Manitoba have returned home after being forced out due to a wildfire.
The Canadian Red Cross says 206 members of the community are already home while 32 more are in the process of returning.
An out-of-control wildfire near God's Lake Narrows forced hundreds of residents in the area to flee their homes.
The Red Cross says there are still many evacuees in Winnipeg and Brandon, including 578 people from Wasagamack First Nation, 326 from Manto Sipi Cree Nation, 209 from Marcel Colomb First Nation, 368 from Red Sucker Lake Anisininew Nation, and 216 from St. Theresa Point First Nation.
As of Sunday, there were 66 active wildfires burning in Manitoba, according to the province's latest fire situation report.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Assiniboine College - Parkland Campus has partnered with an online virtual platform in their efforts to connect students with older residents that have rooms or basement suites that they're interested in renting.
Spaces Shared Chief Experience Officer Jackie Tanner explains how the program works.
"The program is an online virtual platform, which allows people that are interested in home sharing, which is renting out a spare bedroom, to a student. There is a helper's discount as well if the host would like a little help around the house. That is also possible through the program. So it gives people a space to meet each other more safely to do home sharing."
Tanner says the topic is of great interest to her.
"As a gerontological social worker, one of my clinical interests is innovative approaches to aging in place. Home sharing is such a lovely way to incorporate some old things and ideas into a new way of living in our communities, but also help support students in the neighbourhood."
Tanner says some of the benefits to the homeowner include extra income and having some extra help around the home, while the student has a safe and secure place to live while attending school.
Homeowners interested in learning more information about Spaces Shared can contact the college at 622-2222 or reach out to them through the contact page on their website www.assiniboine.net/parkland.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
A Dauphin man arrested in mid-January on drug charges and outstanding warrants now has another warrant to deal with.
28-year-old Clint Nepinak was supposed to appear in court in Brandon last Thursday but was a no-show.
That has led to a warrant being issued for his arrest.
And an Ebb and Flow First Nations man arrested after a New Year's Eve armed robbery in that community has also had a new court date set.
27-year-old Braden Moar was in court last Thursday and had his matters adjourned until today (Tuesday).
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Manitoba's Gas prices have held steady for the past week, unlike the national average that dipped by .6 cents a liter on average according to gasbuddy.com
According to historical data, gasoline prices on August 5 in Manitoba have ranged widely over the last five years: 157.92 c/L in 2023, 169.84 c/L in 2022, 132.75 c/L in 2021.
Including the change in gas prices in Manitoba during the past week, prices yesterday were 6.0 c/L lower than the same day one year ago and 9.8 c/L higher than a month ago.
Patrick D Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, expects some general decline in gas prices as the price of oil plummets and refinery disruptions in the Great lakes area end.
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
Health Canada has issued a recall notice on a Gerber brand baby food after it was found to contain Cronobacter.
Gerber's Oat Banana & Mango Baby Cereal sold in 227 g packages with a best-before date of May 30, 2025 should not be consumed.
While the contaminated food may look and smell fine, it can still have severe health outcomes
Health Canada says people should not consume the recalled product and should throw it out or return it to the location where it was purchased.
Cronobacter can be especially harmful to newborns, and can lead to severe intestinal infections and blood poisoning.
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
The RCMP ride brought out a sizeable crowd Saturday afternoon for an excellent display of horsemanship.
Ag Society President, Terron Stykalo was proud to see such support for a stunning event.
"I'm hoping there were around 3000 people. I mean we won't know until we get our final numbers, but both grandstands were absolutely packed and the bleachers along the side were filled right up. We had a beautiful day, beautiful weather, it was just awesome."
Staff Seargent Scott Linklater and long Ag Society members Jim Kaleta and Brian Damsgaard were honored in the opening salute.
The ticket sales from this event will be going right back to Dauphin.
"That's part of being an Ag Society and a non-profit organization. Money goes back into the community not only to put events like this on but continue upgrades in the community and on the grounds. Like, these grandstand stands we're lucky enough to have here. Without the grandstands like this we can't host events like this."
There's still discussion to be had, some Ag society Members have suggested using the ticket proceeds for repairs and maintenance of the Barns at the fairground.
The Stables are open today as well, until 9 pm if you're looking to meet the majestic animals on their tour across Canada.
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
Another edition of Canada's National Ukrainian Festival is in the books.
Although final numbers still need to be crunched, festival President Kayla Gillis is confident that they were well above pre-pandemic attendance levels this weekend.
"I think everyone is just more comfortable coming back out again and celebrating our Ukrainian culture and heritage and just getting back into a routine and celebrating the festival and making sure that it keeps going year after year."
Gillis is thrilled to see this event attract visitors from all over North America and beyond.
"We had people here from Texas that I spoke to this weekend, so that was amazing to see. It is not just the locals that come, it is people from all across Canada that are coming as well as from the United States. We had quite a few families that came in from Ukraine as well which was very nice to have. "
Gillis adds the support they had from volunteers, patrons, and performers was amazing throughout the weekend.
Next year will mark the 60th anniversary for Canada's National Ukrainian Festival, and Gillis says they are looking forward to keeping this event going for many years.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
The Containment process is underway at Clear Lake, after Zebra Mussels were confirmed to be in the lake.
eDNA testing, as well as a visual sighting, have made their presence clear.
The Impermeable barrier has been installed, blocking off a good portion of the boat cove area. Testing from the Department of fisheries is also underway on different water sample to track the spread of these mussels through the lake.
as well, The Tourist vessel known as the Martese has also been grounded as part of attempt to prevent spread of this invasive species.
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
The Gilbert plains municipality has received a sizeable chunk of funding to help repair the cost of flood damages from earlier this spring.
Minister Ron Kostyshyn met with Reeve Manchur, CAO Roehl, and members of Council along with Scott McCallum, Gilbert Plains Golf Club Manager and Board members recently to make this contribution to get the area into tip-top shape for the upcoming Manitoba Summer Games.
The Province of Manitoba will be investing $2.11 million to help cover the costs of repairing the flood damage that occurred this past spring.
The time frame is tight though, at the Manitoba summer games are just over a week away
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
