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: 3541

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

Falling Number is an Important Indicator of Wheat Quality

Falling Number is a critical test performed to assess wheat quality and the effects of sprout damage. The analytical team at Cereals Canada performs the Falling Number test as part of its routine testing, including its annual New Crop Harvest Assessment, and shares results with customers and buyers of Canadian wheat. “During crop years that have wet harvest conditions, Falling Number testing becomes a priority to ensure the quality and reputation of Canadian wheat is maintained,” says Elaine Sopiwnyk, Cereals Canada vice president of technical services. “Consistently producing high-quality wheat with a desirable Falling Number helps Canada build a good reputation with buyers and processors.” The Falling Number test indirectly measures the activity of the enzyme alpha-amylase in wheat, caused by pre-harvest sprouting. Sprout damage occurs when wet field conditions occur at or near maturity. The kernels absorb moisture and begin to germinate or sprout. Sprouting itself is subject to l

USask researcher honoured with top pulse crop award

The award is presented annually to an individual, company or organization that has made significant contribution to Canada’s pulse and special crops industry. Warkentin is a renowned plant breeder at the Crop Development Centre (CDC) within the USask’s College of Agriculture and Bioresources. He leads the Field Pea and Soybean Crop Breeding and Genetics program as the Ministry of Agriculture Strategic Research Program (SRP) Chair. His research is centered on developing high-performing pea and soybean cultivars tailored for Western Canada and northern U.S. regions. With a strong foundation in both conventional and genomic breeding techniques, Warkentin aims to enhance crop resilience, disease resistance, and end-use quality. His work is instrumental in meeting the evolving needs of the agricultural sector, particularly as demand for plant-based protein continues to rise globally. Through his breeding efforts, he ensures that farmers have access to varieties that are not only producti

Signature Series research podcast: The future of wildfires with Dr. Colin Laroque

Laroque, a professor in USask’s College of Agriculture and Bioresources and the head of the Department of Soil Sciences, is an expert dendrochronologist. In other words, he is an expert in “tree-ring analysis,” which allows him to read the rings of trees to get a better understanding of our environment over years, decades and centuries. In recent years, the number of wildfires in Canada and around the world have increased, with more area being burned and more effort being dedicated to managing them. As Laroque puts it, the environment is changing, but those changes take long periods of time before they can be understood as trends or a “new normal.” For Laroque, the questions are not whether this more regular and severe wildfire season is here to stay, but whether we’ve reached the apex of what the future holds for this “new normal.” On this episode of the USask Signature Series podcast, we answer the question: “What will increasing wildfires do to our environment, and is there a

Saskatchewan Engages With the Mexico and United States on Agricultural Trade and Development

Agriculture Minister Daryl Harrison will lead a trade mission to Mexico to strengthen our trade, research and investment ties with some of Saskatchewan's long-standing Mexican partners and to help companies and industry organizations in the province maintain and strengthen their relationships with Mexican stakeholders. The mission will reinforce the province's international reputation as a reliable supplier of high-quality food, feed and value-added commodities. The mission will also promote research, investment and other collaborative opportunities in Saskatchewan's value-added sector. "Mexico continues to be a vital partner for Saskatchewan, particularly in the agriculture sector," Harrison said. "This mission will open new avenues to promote provincial agriculture export interests, bolster relationships with stakeholders and advance discussions with Mexico on priority agriculture issues." As part of the mission, Minister Harrison will be participating in the 2025 Tri-National Agr

Trade battle puts soybean farmers at risk

The leafy soybean plants reach Caleb Ragland's thighs and are ripe for harvest, but the Kentucky farmer is deeply worried. He doesn't know where he and others like him will sell their crop because China has stopped buying. Beijing, which traditionally has snapped up at least a quarter of all soybeans grown in the United States, is in effect boycotting them in retaliation for the high tariffs President Donald Trump has imposed on Chinese goods and to strengthen its hand in negotiations over a new overall trade deal. It has left American soybean farmers fretting over not only this year's crop but the long-term viability of their businesses, built in part on China's once-insatiable appetite for U.S. beans. “This is a five-alarm fire for our industry,” said Ragland, who leads the American Soybean Association. If no deal is reached soon, some farmers hope the government will come through with aid as it did during Trump's first term, but they see that only as a temporary solution. Trump

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service