This Ontario Virtual Diagnostic Days Series for 2020 will consist of eight 1-hour episodes occurring every two weeks starting Wednesday, July 15 through October 21, 2020. Each episode will highlight a general field crop agronomic theme.
A collective summary of information gleaned from the weekly breakfast meeting minutes with local crop consultants in Ontario
OMAFRA Field Crop Team July 2, 2020 563 Comments Off on Ridgetown – Simcoe Ag Business Breakfast Meeting – June 30, 2020Weather update: Most of the area is under hot and dry conditions. Spotty thunderstorms have resulted in variable rain ranging from no rain to 5 inches at Stoney Point (Essex). About 1/3 of normal total crop heat units (chu) will be accumulated by end of June. Considering cold temperatures to start the season, current chu are within a few days…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team June 26, 2020 466 Comments Off on Cobourg + Winchester Agribusiness Breakfast Meeting – June 24, 2020This was the last spring breakfast meeting for the Cobourg + Winchester calls. A season recap call will be planned for late November or early December. Thank you to everyone who participated in these virtual meetings this spring. If you have any feedback, please contact Sebastian Belliard (Sebastian.belliard@ontario.ca), Ian McDonald (ian.mcdonald@ontario.ca), or Christine O’Reilly (Christine.oreilly@ontario.ca). Weather Rainfall has been variable across the region. Everyone…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team June 24, 2020 690 Comments Off on Exeter and Mt Forest Agribusiness Breakfast Meeting Minutes – June 23, 2020This was the last breakfast meeting for the Exeter and Mt Forest group. Thank you to everyone who has participated this season, and for adapting to the new Zoom format. Corn Crop advisors are getting a lot of questions right now about leaf wrapping and yellow flash on corn leaves. While this may look similar to herbicide injury, these symptoms…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team June 19, 2020 484 Comments Off on Northern Agribusiness Breakfast Meeting – June 17, 2020This was the last spring breakfast meeting for the northern Ontario group. We would like to thank everyone that has participated in the first year of virtual breakfast meetings across the north. Please provide feedback (meghan.moran@ontario.ca) on whether you would like to continue the meetings next season and how we might improve the experience to provide more value to growers…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team June 17, 2020 507 Comments Off on Ridgetown-Simcoe Agribusiness Breakfast Meeting Minutes – June 16, 2020Approximately 52 people attended the 6th Ridgetown-Simcoe Breakfast Meeting. This was officially the last call for these regions this spring, though there was interest in continuing on for at least one more call – stay tuned for details. Overall, discussion focused on good looking wheat, tough-looking corn, herbicide injury concerns in soybeans and edible beans and emerging insect issues. While…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team June 12, 2020 503 Comments Off on Cobourg + Winchester Agribusiness Breakfast Meeting – June 10, 2020Weather Conditions The last two weeks have been dry, although some areas received rainfall and/or thunderstorms. Frost damage has affected some corn and soybean stands, particularly on muck soils in Renfrew and Glengarry. There have been isolated reports of hail damage around St. Isidore and on Wolfe Island. Forages First cut is underway across the region. Reports suggest yields are…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team June 10, 2020 503 Comments Off on Exeter – Mt Forest Agribusiness Breakfast Meeting – June 9, 2020Soybeans Horst Bohner chaired the meeting and started with a summary of soybean emergence and replants. Some soybeans are taking a long time to emerge. Beans are still emerging from early planted stands (where soils were dry). Plant establishment and the need for replanting due to crusting is worse this year than in recent memory, especially in Eastern Ontario and…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team June 4, 2020 476 Comments Off on Northern Agribusiness Breakfast Meeting – June 3, 2020Reports from the northwest and northeast remain positive and for most the planting season is done. A dip in temperature on the weekend did not result in any known crop losses. Most regions had been dry and have completed successful planting seasons and are now enjoying rain. Cochrane District has been cool and therefore soils have not dried out to…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team June 3, 2020 433 Comments Off on Ridgetown-Simcoe Agribusiness Breakfast Meeting Minutes – June 2, 2020About 70 people joined the call for the 5th Ridgetown-Simcoe Breakfast Meeting. The next meeting on June 16th will be the last call for this region. Most of the corn and soybean planting has been wrapped up in the area. However, on heavier textured soils in Chatham-Kent, Niagara and Haldimand there still remains anywhere from 20-50% of the acres to…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team May 28, 2020 1722 Comments Off on Cobourg + Winchester Agribusiness Breakfast Meeting – May 27, 2020Photo: Uneven corn emergence in a clay loam soil. Today’s notable quotable was from Paul Sullivan: “Cutting trash [in overworked soil] is like cutting a cucumber on a sofa, there’s nothing to push against to cut the residue”. If you like the maps in this article, similar ones on precipitation and temperature are available from AAFC HERE. Data is updated daily, weekly, or…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team May 27, 2020 415 Comments Off on Exeter + Mt Forest Agribusiness Breakfast Meeting Minutes – May 26, 2020Weather: Warmer conditions starting late last week have fast-tracked crop growth. Tracking growing degree day (GDD) accumulation – Base 0 – for April and May in Huron county revealed 159 GGD in April and 244 GDD from May 1-25. Rainfall during the past week was sporadic with isolated thunderstorms resulting in flooded fields in one location and no rainfall…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team May 21, 2020 341 Comments Off on Northern Ontario Breakfast Meeting Minutes – May 20, 2020Dry conditions have enabled rapid progress on planting. Some areas could use some rain to help crop emergence. The excellent weather conditions meant some districts were not represented on this week’s call, but those that were present estimated overall planting progress at 70-80%. Cereals, canola and grasses are all Base 0˚C GDD crops. The cool weather has limited GDD accumulation…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team May 21, 2020 396 Comments Off on Ridgetown-Simcoe Agribusiness Breakfast Meeting Minutes – May 19, 202019 May 2020, 8:00 am Due to COVID restrictions, ag breakfast meetings will be paired and held virtually by video conference on the “zoom” platform in 2020. The fourth 2020 Ridgetown-Simcoe virtual ag breakfast meeting was held May 19 with 80 participants. Weather: Crop development has been slow coming out of several days of well below seasonal, and in some cases, record breaking…
OMAFRA Field Crop Team May 14, 2020 413 Comments Off on Cobourg + Winchester Agribusiness Breakfast Meeting Minutes – May 13, 2020Below-seasonal temperatures was the underlying issue in this week’s call. Peterborough County and Kawartha Lakes seem to be the most delayed areas in central and eastern Ontario. Retailers have been able to keep up with customer demands. There was talk of fertilizer backlog at the ports, but so far this has not affected the supply chain in central and eastern…