General conditions Weather conditions have been cooler and wetter than normal. The amount of rain has varied greatly across eastern Ontario. No-till ground has been slow and in some cases too wet to dry out beneath the crop residue and/or cereal rye and other cover crop material. Since the first of May to June 5th […]
General As with previous Breakfast Meeting Notes from Mt Forest, wet weather and its impact on planting progress continues to be the main story. With the persistent rains, even when of small amount, the frequency of them means planting is impacted and the actual planting windows have been narrow and infrequent this spring. Some areas […]
Cereals: Winter wheat growth stages are relatively normal at this point in the season; the crop may have looked a bit ahead in weeks past but conditions have been relatively cool. Wheat is in head throughout Southwestern Ontario and beginning to head in western/central Ontario. Some winter wheat fields are looking yellow, even where nitrogen […]
Winter Wheat: Winter wheat is progressing well across the province. The winter wheat is mainly at early flag leaf (Zadok’s 37) to the swollen boot stage (Zadok’s 45-47), and some heading has been observed in Essex County. Disease pressure across the province is currently low, and fungicide applications are expected to start in the next […]
WINTER WHEAT: Wheat crop continues to look good. Some manganese and sulphur deficiency noted, as well as some incidence of septoria, powdery mildew and the beginnings of stripe rust on a few fields. Most of the region is at flag leaf stage, with heading out anticipated within the next week or so. A few wheat fields […]
For many farmers the spring workload is being compressed and planting delayed because of wet weather. Luckily the window for dry bean planting is not closing yet, and hopefully we do not have soggy fields through the beginning of June. When deciding on a planting date for edible beans, the first concern is frost. Spring […]
It’s now the end of May, so the “perceived optimum” planting date for corn and soybeans has passed. Optimum planting date assumes the soil is “fit” for seeding – if the soil is unfit, the optimum planting date lingers until soil conditions are suitable. The extremely wet weather this spring has left soils saturated and […]
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is rolling out a total of 21 new soil health publications. These publications provide best management practices to help you preserve and conserve soil while improving soil health and crop production. Check out these five new titles on our Soil Health in Ontario web page: […]
Thanks to Steve Johns, for chairing the meeting and to Jamie O’Shea (Pioneer) for sponsoring breakfast. The next meeting will be Tuesday, June 6th starting at 7:00am for breakfast and 7:30 for the meeting. Robert Maloney will be the chair. Synopsis: There was widespread rainfall over the Victoria Day long weekend with most areas receiving […]
Some field scouts are finding alfalfa weevil above threshold in Niagara and Haldimand counties, though there are likely more fields in other counties at levels of concern. Alfalfa weevil activity usually coincides with first cut but in some years when the crop is slower to develop, the weevil damage gets ahead, causing significant damage before […]
General conditions The rain over the weekend dropped 3-10 mm across the region. Some fields are now a bit too wet to work, but most farmers are able to spread fertilizer or spray. From the 1st of May, we have now accumulated 220 crop heat units (CHU), about 50 below the 30-year average of 270 […]
By: THE OMAFRA FIELD CROP TEAM Winter Wheat: Early planted winter wheat continues to look better than Thanksgiving wheat. The cool, wet weather has slowed the rate of wheat development to 5 to 7 days ahead of normal. Most of the crop is at the flag leaf stage, however crop development ranges from 1st node […]
General: Despite recent weather conditions (cool, wet), things have turned around and activity has started back in the field with manure application, wheat management and corn planting. Field conditions for the most part are okay and dust is even been flying in some places. Most farmers have been patient in getting back on the land to avoid […]
Breakfast Sponsor: Thanks from the group to “Roger Bourassa – Dupont Pioneer” Quote of the week – “Lambton County – The Breadbasket of Ontario” from Chad Anderson in his customary introduction. Synopsis: Not much has happened over most of the past two weeks. Most are patient but some have started to push soil conditions especially […]
Two more pests deserve our attention over the next month. Cereal leaf beetle (CLB) is starting to show up in some fields in Ontario. Levels are still low but both adults, eggs and/or larvae are being found by scouts at various locations during routine scouting trips. A few locations tend to experience a higher frequency […]