Soybean harvest wrapped up early in Manitoba this year, with good-looking yields.

While the numbers aren't in yet, and despite varying yields across the province, Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers production specialist Kristin Podolsky says yields looks like they will be close to the record-setting season in 2013.

"I think it has a lot do with the weather," she says, "we had an overall warmer growing season — especially in western Manitoba. If we look at the heat units and the growing degree day maps, we were at 110 per cent of normal accumulated heat."

But while this warm and windy weather was good for growing and dry-down, it also caused some problems at harvest time, with plants drying out of sync with the seed.

"We were often finding the grain was dry, but we were at times waiting for the plant material to dry down," Podolsky says. "The plants were still a bit tough and we were having trouble with the plant material going through the combine even though the seed was dry."

Podolsky says tall plants and rank vegetation also caused some issues with lodging, but harvest losses were low overall.