May 22, 2009

Ontario's winter wheat crop is behind normal development, but with the recent arrival of warmer weather the crop is "looking better every day," Larry Shapton, general manager of the Ontario Wheat Producers' Marketing Board, said Thursday (May 21).

This year's winterkill rate is expected to range from 10-12 percent of the total crop, which is higher than the average rate of 3-5 percent, Shapton said.

That means that of the roughly 950,000 winter wheat acres planted in Ontario in the fall, anywhere from 800,000 to 850,000 acres will be harvested this summer.

A tough spring and poor seeding conditions in the fall are expected to bring yields back in line with five-year averages of 75 to 76 bushels an acre, compared with 80-plus bushel yields in the last couple of years, Shapton said.

The winter wheat crop is roughly 10 to 14 days behind normal development due to a lack of warm weather.

"We didn't have the heat, and things are behind. It's past the middle of May, and we should have wheat up to our knees or higher by now, but we're a long ways from that," Shapton said.

That said, temperatures in Ontario have climbed recently, and the winter wheat crop is expected to catch up.

"In a few days, there could be a whole different story as far as the crop's development goes," Shapton said.

The province's winter wheat production was pegged by Shapton around 1.75 million tonnes, the majority of which is soft red winter wheat. Hard red winter wheat accounts for roughly five percent and hard white winter wheat for roughly 5-7 percent of the total.