The amount of moisture within the root zone just prior to freeze-up provides a good indication of what can be expected in the spring.  With snow cover and freezing temperatures, soil moisture content remains relatively stable throughout the winter.  This is especially true in frozen moist soils whose pores become “sealed off”.  During the last week of October and the first week of November 2015, Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development collected soil samples from 102 sites across Agro-Manitoba.

Maps were created to determine available soil moisture in the root zone, and percent of available water holding capacity in the root zone (see poster presented at the 2015 Manitoba Agronomists Conference): 2015 Soil Moisture Survey Poster. MAC

Information on survey methodology, as well as additional maps from 2015 and previous years, is available on MAFRD’s website at: http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/environment/soil-management/manitoba-fall-soil-moisture-survey.html

Posted by: Pam de Rocquigny, Provincial Cereal Crops Specialist, MAFRD