With the cold winter temperatures now behind, winter cereal growers in Manitoba and Saskatchewan are getting an indication of how crops that were planted last fall fared.

Jake Davidson, the Executive Director of Winter Cereals Canada, reports crop survival is highly variable.

Jake Davidson-Winter Cereals Canada

Across Manitoba and Saskatchewan, which is the area I hear from, it's kind of a dog's breakfast.

We did not fare well in Manitoba North and South of Winnipeg.

It gets a little bit better as you go west and when you hit Saskatchewan everybody is pretty happy.

North of Winnipeg I have directors that are going to plough their crop up for the first time in 20 years.

They're checking and giving a little bit of time but they're seeing damage that doesn't look repairable.

Then, as you get through Portage La Prairie, I was out that way the other day and I saw some nice green crops.

Talking to one of my directors in McGregor, he says he's got crops that look really good north of the highway and south of the highway his description was they look like a Holstein cow.

When you look at the field, because it's patchy.

There's very green spots and then there's nothing spots.

Moving into Saskatchewan I have people in the Moose Jaw, Regina area and out through Outlook that are telling me the crops look great, they're up, they're green, they're starting to grow and they're very happy.

It seems to be very much in a line starting with not so good in central Manitoba, improving as you go west.

Mr Davidson blames the damage on two thaws, one in January and one in February, that caused melt and left pools of water in the fields that then froze, killing the plants in the low lying areas.