The owner of Marc Hutlet Seeds at Ste. Anne, says producers dodged a bullet overnight. Parts of southeastern Manitoba received a touch of frost, but Hutlet says it was not detrimental for corn and soybeans. "I'm sure there will be a few leaves that were injured," he says. "But I don't think this was a significant blow to halt any crop progress." Hutlet says there was frost on his lawn this morning, and he spoke with a couple of customers who also reported a light dusting, but it was not sustained. He notes the temperature probably fell to somewhere between zero and -1, but for only a brief period. For it to be a damaging blow, Hutlet says it would need to go down to -2 degrees and stay there for a couple of hours. "That would halt some development of the crop," he explains. "But I don't think we achieved that anywhere in the area." On August 25th, there was frost reported in the Zhoda area. Hutlet says he does not think that the frost was enough to shut down the plants entirely, and guesses they are still progressing. However, when you burn the tops of the leaves, Hutlet says it delays maturity a bit. According to Environment Canada, Steinbach dropped as low as +1.5 degrees overnight. The lowest temperature ever recorded in Steinbach on September 4th was back in 1962, when it fell to +1.1. Environment Canada records show that Steinbach has never dropped below the freezing mark on September 4th. According to Hutlet, there is quite a gap in maturity among corn and soybean fields in the southeast. He notes some of the early seeded fields are now out of the woods when it comes to frost threat and will make a good quality crop. However, he says some of the longer-season corn and soybeans would benefit from another two to three weeks without frost. "When I say two to three weeks, I'm talking about corn to attain black layer, which is the full maturity of the kernel, in order to give you some really good test weight," he explains. Hutlet adds some of the later variety bean fields are still quite green and are not yet in the brown pod stage, which he says is what you need to be successful in getting good quality. Meanwhile, Hutlet says there is very good potential for the corn crop in southeastern Manitoba this year. He notes there was quite the variability in rainfall, which will make a difference. "The guys that managed to steal a rain, or (received) more rain every time, they got a really good crop there," he says. "Especially if we get it to maturity and it weighs 56 to 57 pounds. I think some fields have a really high yield potential." Hutlet adds that there is a bit of tip back, which is what happens when the end kernels did not pollinate properly, reducing yield. Hutlet says he was speaking with a customer on Wednesday from La Broquerie, who wants to begin his corn silage harvest. Hutlet says even though his silage is still testing a little high on the moisture side, he wants to get it off early because there are bears in his crop. "It's bear season so be careful when you go scouting your corn," warns Hutlet. He notes the start of the corn silage harvest is only about seven to 10 days away. As for soybeans in the southeast, Hutlet says crops did not look like much at the start of summer because of how dry it was. However, he notes that since then, they have really jumped in stature, with some canopies that are now waist high. Hutlet says some of those fields have white mould, which he adds usually means it is a good-yielding crop. "I foresee some of the bean fields that looked promising at the beginning are going to deliver some really good yield," says Hutlet. "The bean size is going to be very good because of all these rains that we got in August." He adds some of the fields that are now turning colour, will have a brown pod, and therefore frost will not do any damage. Hutlet says he is hearing good results from the wheat harvest and notes there are also good yields coming in for both canola and oats. He says the biggest problem right now is trying to work with the markets and tariffs.