Winter Wheat Winter wheat harvest is winding down across the province and reported yields to date have ranged from 80-130 bu/ac which compares well to the five-year average yield of 82.7 bushels/ac. This was a pleasant surprise for many growers’ considering all the stresses the winter wheat crop had to endure. Good reports of straw yield averaging 4000 pounds per…
Nitrates in Silage Fast-growing crops can accumulate nitrates under dry weather conditions. This is most common in corn, but sorghums, sudangrass, millets, cereals, and Italian ryegrass can all accumulate high levels of nitrates and potentially cause nitrate poisoning in livestock. Figure 1. Fast-growing forage crops like sorghum-sudangrass may accumulate nitrates under stressful growing conditions Why are high nitrate levels a…
Corn Significant planting progress was made the end of last week and through the weekend as sunshine and warm temperatures dominated for a string of days. Despite the calendar date and reduced yield potential of later planting, many continued to plant corn noting the competitiveness of returns relative to soybeans. Many areas are reporting corn planting reaching 90-95% of intended…
Corn Progress was made over the last week in areas with lighter textured soils. Those areas now have upwards of 80% of their intended corn acres planted. However, regions with heavier textured soils such as Lambton, Essex, Niagara and Middlesex have 30% of their corn acres planted. Overall, ~60% of the intended corn acres are planted in the province. With…
Planting progress remains slow for all crops, and spray applications have also been significantly delayed by poor weather. Temperatures forecasted for early June are relatively cool, remaining around or below the 20°C mark in many regions. Corn Corn planting progress at the end of May was estimated to be less than 50% complete. In some regions, corn planting at the…
Weather patterns have been variable, leading to regional differences in progress on planting and crop growth. Soils continue to remain unfit for field operations in large parts of the province, especially in much of the southwest and parts of eastern Ontario (figure 1). A few pockets have had windows of opportunity to catch up on cultivation, fertilizer spreading, and planting….
The weather story continues this week with very little change across the province in terms of field activity, including fertilizer and pesticide application to wheat, manure application, field preparation and planting. A small number of acres were planted on the lighter soils across the province, where conditions permitted, but to date less than 10% of corn is in the ground….
Weather The continuing thread of the story for this spring is the weather. Very little has changed across the province in the last week in terms of manure application, wheat fertilization, tillage and crop planting. We continue to wait on weather that allows fields to dry out and support equipment. Eastern Ontario did get a small window to get some…
Weather conditions Cool and wet conditions throughout much of the province have prevented any meaningful field work from happening during the month of April (Figure 1). A string of warmer, drier weather is needed before the 2019 planting season can get moving at a steady pace. Naturally, this delay causes anxiety amongst the farming community, but experienced farmers will remind…
The snow in the north and wet weather in the rest of the province continues to prevent field work from occurring across the province. Widespread rain over the Easter weekend of 30 to 80 mm will delay field operations for another week. Temperatures are slowly improving with highs in the low double digits up to 20°C in the southwest part…
To date, very little field activity due to cool, wet spring so far this season. Most areas received significant rain this past weekend, resulting in saturated soils and ponding in fields (Figure 1) and in a few spots some soil erosion. Overall temperatures have been too cold to stimulate new growth on the winter wheat or alfalfa yet. Figure 1….
Planting The March 2018 planting intentions report by Statistics Canada estimated Ontario farmers intended to plant 2.2 million acres of grain corn, comparing to a 5-year (2013-2017) average of 2.1 million acres (OMAFRA Crop Statistics). A cool April coupled with snow and freezing rain events through to the middle of the month limited early field work. A warm dry period…
Summary The saying in cropping “rain makes grain” was certainly true for soybeans in 2018. Above average rainfall in late July and August resulted in the highest provincial yields on record. What makes this achievement especially impressive is that much of May, June, and even the first half of July were very dry. At the end of the day Ontario…
Fall 2017 Planting Planting conditions started off well and continued through to mid-October with little disruption. Rainfall around Thanksgiving weekend halted soybean harvest and subsequently winter wheat planting but once conditions dried up planting continued through to November. Approximately 906,000 acres of winter wheat were seeded which is slightly down from the previous year’s 910,000 acres. The proportion of hard…
Planting and Development The dry edible bean season started out positively with good planting conditions at the end of May and beginning of June. There was not much rain in the last half of May, and by May 28th temperatures were reaching 30˚C with no risk of frost. A large proportion of the dry beans were planted in the first…
