Soybeans

Soybean planting is largely complete on lighter textured soils and well drained fields. Planting is still underway on heavy soils and in regions of the province that continue to receive sporadic rainfall. Cool temperatures during April and May have slowed emergence, with fields taking longer to emerge this year. With warm weather, soybeans typically emerge within 2 weeks of planting. Be patient when assessing soybean stands this year. Due to cold soils, April and May planted seedlings are taking over 4 weeks to emerge. Some soybean fields are struggling to achieve a perfect stand. See Figure 1. Replanting is underway due to frost, hail, crusting, seed corn maggot, and slug feeding. Keeping an existing thin stand is often more profitable than replanting if the remaining plants are healthy. The uniformity of the crop is more important than having a high population. Soybeans have an impressive ability to compensate for thin stands under good growing conditions. Plants can fill spaces up to 30 cm (12 inches) within or between rows with little yield reduction. Research has shown that a uniform final stand of 90 000 plants per acre provides a yield potential of 90% on loam soils. Field experience has shown that more plants per acre are needed on clay soils. A minimum stand of 110 000 plants per acre on heavy clay soil is required to achieve excellent yields. When thickening a poor stand, use the same variety. The later planted seeds will mature within 10 days of the original stand even though they may have been seeded a month later in the spring. In narrow rows, drilling at an angle to the previous rows will destroy less of the original stand. With wide rows replanting the same directions between the rows is also acceptable. The goal is to destroy as few original plants as possible.

Changing varieties is not necessary unless planting is delayed into July in the southern part of Ontario. In areas with less than 2600 CHU’s switching varieties in the last week of June will facilitate timely harvest in the fall. Soybean maturity recommendations in Ontario are conservative and allow for later planting. Switching to shorter maturing varieties reduces yield potential. A reduction of one full maturity group (1.0 MG) will drop yield potential by about 5 bu/ac. If the field is intended for winter wheat, a shorter maturing variety has likely already been selected to facilitate timely wheat seeding. If seeding wheat this fall is a priority, a further reduction is warranted if soybean planting is delayed past June 15th. In the relative maturity grouping system used for soybeans, each decimal place represents a 1-day delay in maturity in the fall. For example, a 1.9 MG variety will mature 4 days later than a 1.5 MG when seeded on the same day.

Corn

Corn was yellow from cold temperatures across much of the province. New growth is looking better, and warm temperatures will encourage rapid growth. Plant stands are generally acceptable but are slightly lower than the last few years. Frost damage occurred in parts of the province. Frost at this point has little impact on final yield. Since the growing point for corn is still below the soil surface these plants will recover. The growing point for corn remains below the soil surface until about the 6-leaf stage. Some of the earliest planted corn is just reaching 5 or 6 leaf tips this week. Early side-dressing has started in southwestern Ontario.   

Edible Beans

Adzuki beans take the longest to mature and are planted as early as possible, and some acres were planted in May. For other market classes of dry beans, the ideal planting date is around June 1^st, depending on temperature and rainfall. Cool and rainy conditions through late May limited dry bean planting, but planting began in earnest this week. Warm weather is ideal for dry bean emergence and vigorous early-season growth. Where heavy rains are forecasted, it is recommended to wait to plant until the rain passes. Pounding rain may cause soil crusting which will negatively impact emergence.

Cereals

Winter wheat growth and development has slowed as temperatures cooled during the end of May. The slow growth through the heading stages has allowed for optimum timing of T3 fungicide applications to protect against fusarium head blight and DON. Given the cool conditions prior to flowering in the most advanced fields, it is expected that the inoculum load for fusarium in those fields is low. As conditions warm and rain continues, those fields just moving into the heading stages may experience higher inoculum load and may be at higher risk for fusarium infection. These fields should be protected against fusarium head blight. Stripe rust also continues to be a challenge in wheat fields and is spreading across southwestern Ontario. Given the presence of stripe rust and its ability to advance quickly, a T3 fungicide application should be considered to protect against stripe rust. If a susceptible variety is being grown, there is heavier stripe rust pressure across the field, and the T3 application window is still 5 or more days away, an immediate fungicide application for stripe rust is warranted. A T3 fungicide application can follow at pollination for protection against fusarium head blight. Avoid fungicides containing strobilurins if the wheat is beyond the swollen, head in boot stage. When scouting stripe rust infected fields ensure you are cleaning your boots and clothing between fields to prevent disease spread.

Cereal aphids have been reported in several fields from Harrow to Stratford. Though cereal aphids can often be found at low levels in cereals, without reaching threshold, this year poses an increased risk for barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV). Aphids can probe infected plants and carry them to other fields to infect healthy plants. Controlling aphids via insecticide seed treatments in winter wheat can be a useful tool, especially if those fields are planted earlier than the optimal planting dates. Cereal aphids themselves rarely cause direct yield loss in Ontario. Only when populations reach an average of 12 – 15 aphids per stem prior to heading is a foliar insecticide recommended. Some fields may build to those levels this year if temperatures remain cooler than normal, so scouting is advised. Once in head, populations need to reach 50 or more aphids per head to warrant control. Keep in mind, many of the natural enemies that help keep cereal aphid populations in check also move to other crops like soybeans. Monitor the natural enemies’ populations when scouting for aphids and consider them when making your management decision.

Forages

First cut dairy haylage is underway, weather permitting. Pastures and grassy hay fields are heading out and will lose quality quickly.

Some fields in Renfrew County have suffered severe damage from hail. See Figure 2. New seedings may need replanting, since the young plants do not have a crown to regrow from. Details on when to harvest hail-damaged alfalfa and red clover are available on FieldCropNews.com. Elevated nitrate levels are a concern in both forage crops and pastures affected by the storm. Work with a nutritionist to test affected forage and dilute anything with high nitrates to safe levels. Pastures should be rested until they have regrown to avoid nitrate poisoning.

Diagnostic Days

Registration for Diagnostic Days (July 8-9) at the Ridgetown Campus of the University of Guelph is now open online at: bdc.ridgetownc.com/useservices/conferencemanagement/southwest-crop-diagnostic-days

Breakfast Meeting Notes 

Exeter Breakfast Meeting Minutes – June 3rd 2025

Corn

• Corn acres are average or up slightly in this area. They do not change much because it is a livestock area.
• There is lots of yellow corn right now but it will green up once temperatures warm.
• There have been some questions about applying herbicides on yellow corn. Some phyto tests were conducted when it was cold two weeks ago and there was no difference in phyto on severely yellow corn.
• There has been some fertilizer burn where too much N+K was put down in strips. Growers are reminded to watch the fertilizer load going into the strips.
• For those that applied fall manure, it is recommended to do a Pre-sidedress Soil Nitrate Test (PSNT) as the cold temperatures this year may result in less available nitrogen. Cores should be taken at 12”.
• It was noted that 28% is tight right now but more is coming available.

Soybeans

• Soybean planting is essentially finished although there are some no-till fields that have not been touched.
• There are a lot of liberty enabled traits in soybeans this year. Liberty, 2,4-D and Enlist are ok but not great on Canada fleabane escapes.
• More growers want to go in with Enlist or come back with more Enlist or Liberty but it is recommended if there are herbicide tolerant weeds present, liberty and 2,4-D should be mixed in first pass.
• Best practices for Liberty is to put AMS in the tank first as it helps penetrate into tougher weeds regardless of water quality. Apply Liberty during hot sunny conditions and make sure the beans are Liberty enabled so you don’t kill them!
• Seed corn maggot damage was reported around Rothsay. It was suggested that perhaps the smell from that facility is attracting them.
• There have been some replants due to seed corn maggot.
• Some stands poor on no-till ground with slug feeding reported along Lake Huron.
• Beans planted April 25^th are still coming up. Yield is not expected to be impacted. As long as the stand is there they will be fine.
• In Elora an ideal stand is about 140,000 plants per acre for 100% yield potential.
• Pockets on the clay are still being planted. Quebec and parts of the Ottawa Valley are having a tough time planting.  
• Ontario planting date by maturity research at three locations shows that there is no need to switch to shorter varieties until July at the Ridgetown location. The Winchester and especially Elora sites showed that a switch date near the end of June could be considered.

Edible Beans

• Edible bean planting is just starting. Acres are up on dry beans across all classes. Some edible bean planted about 10 days ago may need to be replanted.
• Those fields that are going into edible beans and have already had a herbicide applied are seeding fleabane coming up. Tillage should take care of those fleabane.
• It was noted that it is important to not plant too shallow and ensure edibles are being planted below the herbicide applied.
• It was suggested that about 60 lbs total N+K for edibles is safe to apply; however, but it’s a better idea to spread K in the fall or another time.

Wheat

• Wheat is progressing through the heading stages and T3 fungicide applications are starting.
• Stripe rust continues to be a challenge in this area. If there is heavy stripe rust pressure and a T3 fungicide application is more than 5 days away, a fungicide application should be made immediately followed by a T3 fungicide application at pollination.
• Fields that have received a fungicide application for the control of stripe rust are taking up to 4 days to see signs of the stripe rust control.
• Fields that received a T1 or T1.5 continue to be clean and free of leaf diseases including stripe rust.
• Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYVD) is showing up in many fields across the area. Aphids are being reported in fields as well. Most of the infections appear to be spring infections with the absence of stunting and is expected to have minimal impact on yield. Wheat streak mosaic virus has been confirmed as well.
• Cereal leaf beetle (CLB) adults and larvae are being found in fields but continue to be below thresholds. Spring cereals should continue to be monitored as the season progresses.

Forages

• Yields were reported as being variable.
• There is a need to lookout for weevil towards the south.
• Quality reports have not yet come back but it was suggested that historically on wet years protein has not been great.

Agricorp

• Passed planting deadlines for area E and approaching the deadline of June 15^th for this area. Acres need to be reported by June 30^th and can be done online.

Winchester Breakfast Meeting Minutes – June 4th 2025

• Rainfall levels below normal; rains have been smaller and frequent, so there have not been many opportunities to dry fields out, but the rains haven’t been significant enough to create very wet field conditions.

Forages

• Nowhere near alfalfa flowers – buds are mid-size. Some growers are cutting anyways.
• A lot have started first cut, but not all are going/all done.
• Early yield reports are good, but still lots to go.
• Some hay out that isn’t super good – just an average second cut in terms of yield (if they aren’t managed properly with fertility). Fields are slower to come on, GDDs are still behind.
• Growers are reminded to manage stands accordingly – weaker stands can still be rotated out to soybeans.
• No leafhoppers reported here yet – some reports of pressures south of Montreal.

Cereals

• Winter wheat is not far from heading, some is just starting heading now. (Splitting sheaths, not fully headed yet).
• Some later fields just approaching boot stage.
• Low disease pressures. Some powdery mildew in protected fields but not heavy pressures. Mostly found in the lower parts of canopies.
• Some spotty disease pressure against tree lines and windbreaks.
• Stripe rust reported east of Montreal. Suspected overwintering, not blowing in (found in areas with large history of winter wheat crops).
• Armyworm is low here, northern Quebec is seeing high catch rates right now, which can translate to New Liskeard region.

Corn

• Last 3-5% wrapping up this week. Most done, couple growers still finishing up.
• Emergence looks pretty good across the region.
• Still a lot of herbicide to go down on corn, not a lot of pre-emerge was applied.
• Some shallow planted corn around, even with moisture in the soil.
• UAN is still tight, will likely be a problem in Eastern Canada for foreseeable future. Eastern Ontario and Quebec will be okay. Western Ontario took a lot of the UAN for winter wheat applications this spring.
• Urea, A/S still in good supply.

Soybeans

• Bean planting is all over the map – some 100%, some 25-40%
• Emergence has been really slow – could be residue related (keeping corn green longer may be affecting residue breakdown in the winter)
• Reminder if planting beans into alfalfa stands after first cut to plant to moisture and have a herbicide plan for timely burndown. Weed control options are greater with a herbicide pass right after planting/pre-emerge. Second pass herbicide is likely required.
• Be cautious of applying herbicide products, specifically dicamba in hot weather. Risk of temperature inversions is higher and, smoke from forest fires may also affect herbicide movement.

Weather damage

• Areas in Beachburg/Renfrew had hail in a storm on Friday night, creating catastrophic crop damage in some areas.
• Crop damage was found in alfalfa, winter canola, winter triticale, soybeans, and pasture fields.
• Soybeans fields with high residue are seeing less damage from hailstorms then fields planted into conventional tillage. Expected to be low replants, but beans are definitely under stress.
• If your Alfalfa was damaged from hail, there are some checklists here for evaluating the field after the damage. Coping with Hail Damage to Forage Crops and Pasture.

Simcoe Ag Breakfast Meeting Minutes

Planting Update

• Planting on medium and coarse-textured soils is basically complete.
• Many acres on heavy textured soils in Haldimand and Niagara are still unplanted.
• Two weeks ago, the group debated the pros and cons of planting into heavy textured soils ahead of rain and forecast prolonged cold temperatures.
  • 20-20 hindsight verifies that waiting for warmer soils would have been the better strategy based on weather since May 21. 
  • Fields planted just before the cold rains are now being replanted since corn and soybeans are germinating and leafing out below the crusted surface. 
  • Some producers are trying tillage cross-ways over the field in an attempt to open up the crust. Rotary hoes are not aggressive enough for the 1-inch crust that has developed over the past few days.

Corn/Soybeans

• Fields that were planted between May 10 and 15 have generally emerged without problems. Even with cool temperatures, seeds took up warm(er) moisture.  Getting seed to emerge quickly is important for the Haldimand-Niagara region and often the best crops are planted in June.  Most corn will be planted by June 10.
• Corn that was emerging yellow due to slow emergence and cold temperatures has started to “green up”.
• Where re-plants are occurring, decisions to re-plant to corn or soybeans are often based on what herbicides have been applied and how much nitrogen has been applied.
• Crop insurance deadline for planting corn is June 15^th and June 30^th for soybeans.
• Frost on the weekend affected some fields, especially for tobacco and some watermelon and squash. 
• Wind has damaged some tomato crops, but has also been hard for spraying. Pollination has been good on fruit trees.

Wheat

• T3 fungicide applications are starting today (Wednesday, June 4). Many fields are at Day 0 or Day 1.  There are still growers that do not plan to apply T3 application due to cost. 
• Many wheat fields that have never had grass issues now have bluegrass coming through. It is challenging to control and important to know the biotype.

Forage

• Forage harvest is underway with much of it harvested without rain.  Yields appear strong. Manure is being applied almost immediately after harvest.
• Where corn is being planted after cereal rye or triticale, and is being insured, the crop needs to be inspected by Agricorp once emerged.

Weed Control

• Non-target crops are very sensitive to active ingredients that are used in Enlist (2,4-D) and Xtend (dicamba) soybeans. Spray decision support tools like www.engeniaspraytool.ca and www.sprayforescast.ca are very useful to identify appropriate spraying conditions.
• Best control for waterhemp in Enlist soybeans would include an effective soil applied herbicide followed by an effective in-crop herbicide. The weed control search of the Crop Protection Hub contains efficacy information for herbicides on waterehemp. An overview of waterhemp best practices can be found here.  
• Many fields have significant weed pressure. It’s been reported that glyphosate burndowns were not as effective as normal. Cool temperatures after application slowed herbicide movement within the plant resulting in slower activity.
• Sprayer clean-out is very important, especially now where so many different products are being applied in the same window. Don’t let sprayers sit with product. 
• Always add products to the tank separately to avoid mixing problems.

Other

• Frost on the weekend affected some fields, especially for tobacco and some watermelon and squash. Some tobacco replanting is occurring.
• Wind has damaged some tomato crops and has also created challenging conditions for spraying.
• Pollination has been good on fruit trees.

OMAFA Weather Summary: Thurs May 29—Wed June 4, 2025

Location	Highest Temp (°C)	Lowest Temp (°C)	Rain for Week (mm)	Rain Since April 1st (mm)	GDD0C April 1st	GDD5C April 1st	CHU May 1st
HARROW
2025	30.9	5.2	22.6	213.6	743	440	131
2024	28.6	6.2	12.0	193.8	928	601	145
2023	32.1	10.4	0.0	75.9	790	476	171
10 YR Norm (2011-2020)	25.2	11.8	19.3	201.2	767	445	163
RIDGETOWN
2025	29.9	2.2	8.5	146.0	691	390	124
2024	27.4	3.3	17.3	234.3	865	543	131
2023	32.4	8.4	0.0	126.3	747	442	162
10 YR Norm (2011-2020)	25.3	10.2	15.7	176.7	709	391	152
SARNIA
2025	29.5	3.3	11.0	189.7	665	370	111
2024	29.8	4.6	3.6	173.1	845	525	128
2023	30.9	8.5	0.0	123.5	715	410	150
10 YR Norm (2011-2020)	25.1	9.4	22.3	175.3	677	361	146
LONDON
2025	28.3	2.3	17.8	194.1	673	384	116
2024	27.9	4.3	23.2	211.9	854	529	127
2023	32.3	9.6	0.0	163.0	745	440	165
10 YR Norm (2011-2020)	25.1	9.9	25.5	186.1	695	381	148
BRANTFORD
2025	30.1	2.8	2.9	205.6	678	385	120
2024	28.2	3.8	8.1	167.0	807	486	127
2023	33.0	9.2	0.0	139.3	725	419	159
10 YR Norm (2011-2020)	27.1	8.6	14.6	181.0	676	365	146
WELLAND
2025	29.3	2.2	0.7	136.2	685	389	117
2024	29.6	5.7	1.9	186.4	851	527	133
2023	32.2	7.7	0.0	132.7	727	416	155
10 YR Norm (2011-2020)	25.0	9.7	19.9	193.3	697	382	145
GODERICH
2025	28.8	2.1	4.8	124.6	607	322	104
2024	27.5	2.4	3.2	162.5	749	436	115
2023	29.7	8.3	0.0	108.4	663	374	168
10 YR Norm (2011-2020)	22.6	9.4	9.6	148.9	604	299	129
ELORA
2025	28.7	0.6	4.2	183.1	603	322	104
2024	27.7	4.4	2.9	173.6	737	425	118
2023	30.3	7.8	0.0	118.4	660	371	160
10 YR Norm (2011-2020)	23.9	8.0	21.2	184.0	600	299	129
MOUNT FOREST
2025	28.4	2.9	7.4	161.1	599	320	100
2024	28.0	2.5	1.0	211.8	727	420	120
2023	30.1	8.5	0.0	145.4	661	377	166
10 YR Norm (2011-2020)	23.5	8.3	18.4	167.7	586	294	128
BARRIE
2025	29.6	3.2	12.7	180.2	586	310	100
2024	27.2	3.3	0.7	280.7	697	389	117
2023	30.7	6.0	0.0	148.4	638	348	155
10 YR Norm (2011-2020)	24.2	7.5	21.8	169.2	569	280	120
PETERBOROUGH
2025	28.2	1.1	7.2	186.6	621	335	101
2024	27.8	2.4	0.0	182.9	724	411	114
2023	31.7	3.4	0.5	141.6	664	363	135
10 YR Norm (2011-2020)	24.7	7.4	24.5	171.3	615	313	125
KEMPTVILLE
2025	30.7	6.1	10.2	140.9	658	368	118
2024	29.4	5.3	0.0	204.1	771	458	131
2023	33.6	3.6	0.0	202.3	700	403	141
10 YR Norm (2011-2020)	25.6	8.5	17.2	172.3	643	343	134
SUDBURY
2025	26.6	0.5	2.6	129.7	488	245	94
2024	24.7	0.5	2.5	246.4	611	328	116
2023	31.5	8.9	0.0	198.0	561	313	162
10 YR Norm (2011-2020)	22.7	6.0	21.5	169.3	477	237	106
EARLTON
2025	29.3	2.4	10.7	112.2	453	226	95
2024	27.3	0.6	0.3	196.9	600	323	122
2023	32.6	6.3	0.0	159.7	552	303	152
10 YR Norm (2011-2020)	22.7	5.1	21.2	144.0	427	210	102
SAULT STE MARIE
2025	26.8	1.6	6.7	149.6	470	218	80
2024	25.0	2.2	5.2	208.9	585	287	113
2023	31.9	5.4	0.2	127.9	560	309	157
10 YR Norm (2011-2020)	21.8	4.3	15.0	162.1	418	179	93
THUNDER BAY
2025	27.8	-1.3	2.0	123.0	404	180	100
2024	24.4	0.2	9.7	153.8	489	215	101
2023	30.5	3.5	3.7	128.5	458	231	139
10 YR Norm (2011-2020)	19.5	3.5	23.9	149.9	384	155	84
FORT FRANCES
2025	26.9	2.1	8.5	96.9	557	298	121
2024	29.0	1.6	20.6	168.3	530	245	130
2023	31.0	9.5	10.6	110.6	593	359	174
10 YR Norm (2011-2020)	22.1	5.6	24.5	131.0	456	209	105

This weather summary is compiled by OMAFA using Environment Canada weather station data provided by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Data quality is verified but accuracy is not guaranteed and should be used for general information purposes only.  For additional locations and weather analysis, visit the OMAFA Pest and Weather System (PAWS)