Statistics Canada says harvested soybean acres in Manitoba were down 24.5 per cent this year to 1.4 million acres.
Yields fell 14.1 per cent to 29.2 bushels per acre, resulting in a drop in production of 35.2 per cent from 2018 down to 1.1 million tonnes.
Daryl Domitruk is the Director of Research and Production with Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers (MPSG).
"Number one it was obviously a dry stressful start to the season throughout, but then come into the latter part of the season, some regions received rain and other regions didn't and we saw a divergence in yields because of that," he said.
Domitruk says the 1.4 million acre number reported by Statistics Canada matches up with what they were expecting for 2019.
"We think a sustainable acreage in Manitoba is that 1.5 million acre range," he commented. "That puts us at about 17 per cent or so of total crop acres. If you add in peas and dry beans, you're upwards about 20 per cent of the acres would be in an annual legume and that's probably from a rotation perspective, where you want to be."
Click here to see more...