Harvest could start next week here in southeastern Manitoba. Earl Bargen, the provincial Farm Production Advisor, says that's the word after checking fields and talking to farmers Monday in preparing the weekly crop report.

"I've started hearing about pre-harvest applications starting this week. I had one guy say, and of course, it's always weather-dependent, that seven to ten days out, combines could be rolling in the area."

Bargen says wheat and canola crops he was in Monday are filling nicely and it appears yields will be pretty good. He notes long-season crops like corn and soybeans are in need of a good rain in the next week or two as they are starting to run low on moisture.

Meanwhile, Bargen is urging soybean growers to check for aphids noting this is probably the week where they'll want to make a decision on whether or not to spray for them.

"I was in a field that definitely had them. The big thing there is to be scouting and to be monitoring if they are increasing or not. I know the Pulse Growers have some really good resources on their website as far as what that looks like on a leaf as far as numbers. You want to scout multiple parts of the field because it an look way worse in hot spots and then you go further into the field and there are none. So you really have to do the groundwork and make sure you know what you're doing before you pull the trigger and make a spray application. I just got off the phone with the Pulse Specialist for the province and he said definitely this would be the week where growers would be making those spray decisions"