Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Soybean harvest in Ontario, some have started, have you? When will your fields be ready? Check out the results ...

There have been a few post on Twitter today - see below - on soybeans being harvested. Have you started? When will your fields be ready?

 

Views: 3533

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Article in the London Free Press:

Crop Yields Amazing

It’s not what farmers and agricultural officials expected after a cold, wet spring and parched summer across much of Southwestern Ontario’s farm belt.

Yield reports from fields that have been harvested are being called amazing.

“The yields on both corn and soybeans for the most part have just blown us away. We do not hardly understand where these yields are coming from,” Peter Johnson, crop specialist with the Ontario Agriculture Ministry, said Thursday.

Johnson said there have been many growers reporting 50 and 60 bushels an acre soybean yields.

“We would have expected a lot of 30 and 40 bushel soybeans. The yields have been just outstanding for the year that we had,” he said.

The situation has been similar for corn.

Some growers are reporting yields over 200 bushels an acre and many are talking yields of 160 to 180 bushels, Johnson said.

“We would have expected to have heard a lot of 140 bushel corn yields.”

There have been some growers hit with lower yields - 20 bushel an acre soybeans and 120 bushel an acre corn.

“But the vast majority have been more than surprised and amazed by the high yields we have been getting,” Johnson said.

The trick for farmers now is to get the remaining crops out of the field before snow arrives.

Johnson said either dry conditions are needed or freezing temperatures that will allow farmers to get back into the fields.

Harvest is further advanced north of London where it has been drier then south of the city.

Some areas north have 80% of the soybean crop off, while areas along Lake Erie have only 20% harvested.

Corn and soybeans are the two biggest crash crops in Ontario, worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The recent wet weather is raising the tension level for farmers waiting for a break.

Jay Curtis, a St. Thomas cash crop farmer, said it is putting growers behind the eight ball.

“It rained and rained, through the prime planting season, so we were late getting crops in.”

Curtis said the regions’ summer with good heat and timely rains helped to put the crops back on schedule, but now Curtis said, “we’re getting saturated, so we’re in big trouble again.”

John Ferguson, of Ferguson’s Fancy Beans in St. Thomas, said in an average year he hopes to have beans harvested by mid-October. This year Ferguson estimates 50% of the bean crop is still in the fields, and it’s going to have to dry out for a couple of weeks before any harvesting can take place.

Southwestern Ontario’s corn crops have a better chance of getting harvested, said Ferguson, because corn can be harvested even after snowfall, “making corn a much less risky crop.”

Corn usually must be dried down to 15.5% moisture, so a wet crop can cost a farmer, a lot of money in the form of natural gas or propane to dry his crop, he said.

“To take corn from 30% moisture to 15.5% would cost about 70 cents a bushel,” said Ferguson who noted that the current price of corn is about $6 a bushel.


Sally_SP10:50am via Twitter for BlackBerry®

Our Non RR #Pioneer 92M10's went 62bu. Happy to hear that! #Ontag #Soybeans

ScoutingFields profile

ScoutingFields Another soybeans yield comparison. Plot average was 55.5 bpa at 15%. All within a couple of bushels. Planted June 2nd at 70 lbs/ac approx.

thirlwall profile

thirlwall 32-61RY tops a soybean plot near Stoney Point @ 63 bu/acre

HustonFarms profile

HustonFarms Unloading our last load of soys into the bin this morning. I think everyone here was pleased with the yield. Not many years this good.

Reply to Discussion

RSS

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Market Movers to Watch for the Week of April 6

Key reports that farmers should watch which could have significant impacts on commodity markets the week of April 6th, 2025

MU Extension holds short-term operating plan workshops

If key decision-makers on a farm are unable to make decisions for a short time (two weeks to six months), how well would their farm operations continue? University of Missouri Extension will host “On My Own: Planning for the Unplanned” workshops on short-term operating plans to help landowners and farm operators make sound decisions when preparing for the unexpected. “Farmers can be sidelined by health concerns, cognitive issues, accidents and injuries, family caretaker duties, military deployment or anything else that inhibits their ability to make decisions and operate their farm,” Amie Breshears, MU Extension agricultural business specialist, said in a news release. A short-term operating plan provides essential information and structure to keep the farm running until the key decision-maker is ready to resume their role, she said. Participants will leave the series with knowledge of components of short-term operating plans, Breshears said. The program is designed for female lan

Farmers deeply concerned about ag trade

Weaker expectations for the future led to a decline in farmer sentiment in March as the Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer index decreased 12 points to a reading of 140, a decrease from 152 a month earlier. The farmer view of the future was decidedly less optimistic in March than in February, as the Index of Future Expectations dipped to 144, which was 15 points less than in February. A weaker Current Conditions Index, which decreased 5 points in March to 132, also contributed to the weakening in farmer sentiment. Reductions in key crop prices since mid-February, combined with concerns about the future of agricultural trade and farm policy, were important factors behind the sentiment shift. Even with the decline in expectations for the future, farmers were still more optimistic about the future than the current situation. The Future Expectations Index remained 12 points more than the Current Conditions Index. The March barometer survey took place March 10-14. Coinciding

Research farm seeks more farmer input

Staff at the Iowa State University Northeast Research and Demonstration Farm are trying to rouse up more attention and input from regional producers. ISU Extension staff and Northeast Iowa Agricultural Experimental Association officers reminded members at a recent annual meeting about the importance of their input for upcoming seasonal activities at the research farm, which is also home to the Borlaug Learning Center outside of Nashua in Chickasaw County, Iowa. “We are the best-kept secret in northeast Iowa,” Tim Burrack, president of the NIAEA, said to about 50 members filling a classroom on the farm. “We need to remind people this research farm is here for them.” The farm will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2026. The NIAEA owns the 260-acre research and demonstration farm. Iowa State and the association partnered to open the Borlaug Learning Center in 2009. The center includes Extension and research farm offices, rural development office space and meeting rooms.

Manitoba Government Providing $150 Million for Agricultural Producers

The Manitoba government will provide farmers and producers with more than $150 million in supports, including $10 million to match federal AgriStability funding, Premier Wab Kinew announced today. “We’re standing up for Westman and Western Canada, and protecting your jobs,” said Kinew. “With $150 million in supports for agriculture, we’re making sure that farmers and producers can weather the economic uncertainty we’re facing and protecting jobs in the agriculture industry.” The Manitoba government will provide $10 million in additional matching funds for the AgriStability program, as well as $140.8 million for business risk management programming including AgriInsurance, Wildlife Damage Compensation and AgriInvest. The premier noted the province is also working with farmers, producers and businesses to protect jobs, strengthen Manitoba’s economy and respond to tariffs from China and the United States, in addition to working with Keystone Agricultural Producers toward a number of sh

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service