Despite a soggy, unpredictable start to 2019, corn and soybean crops in Southwestern Ontario are shaping up to be near average amounts.
Devin and Chad Homick with Great Lakes Grain just wrapped up the 2019 Crop Assessment Tour. The organization has been doing the assessment for 10 years during which time it spends two weeks visiting over 400 fields across Southwestern Ontario to get estimates of what corn and soybean crop produce might be.
Corn yield is being called at 164 bushels per acre for the Ontario Average. Devin said despite record rainfall amounts throughout April, May and June, there is still hope for a successful corn crop this year, it just might be a bit behind.
"The potential is definitely there to have a good crop, it's just late," he said. "We had a very late plating. This crop last year, I think 90 to 95 per cent of the field was already dented. This year I don't think we even had 20 per cent of the fields that were dented. So the crop still has a long way to go to reach full maturity."
According to Devin, the corn yield amount this year is down from 2018, but on par with the overall average of the last decade.
"If you look over the last 10 years, that's pretty close. Last year I think we had a very high estimate. I think we were just over the 180-bushel mark last year. We are down a little bit from last year but the potential of crop is there," Devin explained.
Meanwhile, soybean yield is being called at a provincial average of 40.2 bushels per acre. According to Devin, bean pods are down about 15 to 20 per cent from 2018 which brought a new record provincial yield.
"The crops for beans is just kind of looking average. Last year we had a lot of bean clusters at the top of the plant which probably gave us another five to 10 bushels. From our observations on this tour, we just didn't find that when we were out walking the fields," Devin said.
The pair called the 2019 growing season one of the most unprecedented and challenging seasons on record when it comes to the environmental conditions that farmers faced. Despite this, many counties were able to come out strong including Kent County, which was above the provincial average with 171.5 bushels per acre for corn and 47.7 bushels per acre for soy. Middlesex was also above average with 169.3 bushels per acre for corn and 41.1 for soy.
However, it was harder for some counties to overcome the conditions. According to Chad, Lambton, Essex, Niagara and Haldimand were most impacted by the harsh weather.
"Essex County had a terrible spring," he said. "They were really wet. They did not get the crop planted. Chatham-Kent was able to start planting in May where Essex really wasn't until June. A lot of people who had corn anticipated never even got to plant it this year because it just got too late."
One problem that plagued farmers in 2018 was an outbreak of vomitoxin, also known as DON. However, Great Lakes Grain is currently not predicting a widespread issue with DON again this season.
"The fields were extremely clean this year," explained Chad. "Right now it looks like hopefully, that problem won't be there this fall. Last year we saw a lot of ear mould and this year the fields were really clean."
Overall, Chad and Devin believe things are looking good for crops in 2019 but as always, farmers are at the mercy of mother nature.