Meghan Moran
In 2023, Ontario dry bean acres had dropped below 100,000 acres which was the lowest in a decade. In 2024, acres returned to a more typical level for the province, at around 116,000 acres insured by Agricorp. White beans accounted for about 40% of the dry bean acres, and black beans reached their highest ever acreage in Ontario at nearly 22,000 acres or 19% of the total. There were over 12,000 acres of kidney beans, nearly 10,000 acres of cranberry beans, and adzuki acreage dropped from 25,000 acres in 2023 to just over 18,000 acres in 2024.
Dry bean planting started at the typical planting window. Some acres were planted in late May but the majority were planted in the first half of June. Dry beans prefer temperatures of 15°C or above, so the frost in late May and cool nights in June caused some injury or slow emergence and growth. Some regions had a lot of rain in late June, which posed a challenge for fields that still needed to be planted as well as beans that were already in the ground. Variable stands were reported in many key bean-growing regions. Very wet soils reduced emergence and increased root rots, and many acres of beans were lost because of standing water. Stunted or delayed areas of fields make it difficult to time herbicide and fungicide applications and are a challenge at harvest. Some fields were lost to excess moisture after late planting, so they could not be successfully replanted. Excess moisture also resulted in nitrogen deficiency in some fields. Dry bean fields in the more northern bean growing regions were in better condition through the season because they had more favourable rainfall distribution.
Bean field with excess moisture causing stand loss and nitrogen deficiency.
More producers are trying no-till and strip-till beans and seeing some success. Two key issues with those systems were prominent this year. Dry bean herbicide programs typically include herbicides that require incorporation and when they are surface-applied, beans emerging during wet conditions often sustain some herbicide injury, resulting in stunting. Slugs are also a problem in high residue fields. Slugs thrive in moist conditions where there is residue to hide in, and after two years of mild winters slug populations are high. Slug feeding tends to abate as the environment becomes hot and dry in summer, but this year allowed for a sustained feeding period and crop injury was significant in some fields.
Anthracnose disease was found this year, after nearly a decade of very few reports of anthracnose from Ontario fields. Most reports came from Oxford County, and some from Huron County. Conditions were ideal for the disease; prolonged wet and humid conditions, and temperatures between 13 and 26°C. It spreads across fields through water movement and can move between fields on equipment or clothing. There have been fewer outbreaks of anthracnose since seed dealers moved seed production to arid regions like Idaho, which reduces the risk of anthracnose arriving on seed. Fungicide seed treatments as well as foliar strobilurin fungicide use on seed fields and commercial fields also play a role in anthracnose management. There are numerous dry bean varieties that carry resistance to the most recently confirmed race of anthracnose in Ontario, but the most popular varieties grown in the province this year are not resistant. Using farm-saved seed significantly increases the risk of anthracnose. Researchers at AAFC Harrow are evaluating samples to see if this is a new race of anthracnose. While severe symptoms were found in multiple fields, it was not a widespread problem.
Good weather allowed for a smooth harvest season and limited issues with bean quality, although some beans came off very dry. Towards the end of harvest more cracked seed coats were contributing to pick. Lots of sun and heat may have contributed to good activity of Eragon applied pre-harvest to dry down weeds. Yield reports are highly variable, but it is expected the final results for the province will be average overall. Yield data from Agricorp is not yet available.