August 4, 2008

 

Ontario corn crop in excellent condition

The majority of the corn crop across Ontario was in good to excellent condition, with most fields in the tassel to silking stage of development, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs reported for the week ended July 30.

 

Poorly drained fields or heavy textured soils, however, were suffering due to excess moisture. Uneven tasseling is evident this year, and it indicates there may be uneven maturity this fall in these fields, the report said.

 

Rust and northern leaf blight were evident in a few cornfields and on some hybrids. Frequent storm fronts from the southern US states deposited rust spores early this year, the report said.

 

Soy growth in the province ranges from early flowering to pod setting. Very-late-planted fields have just started to flower, while most fields have full canopies with early pod set.

 

Root rot was evident in some fields, the report said. White mold is also evident in fields with a lush canopy.

 

Soy will continue to flower and set pods for the next 3-4 weeks, so growing conditions during the month of August will be critical for optimum yields.

 

The harvest of barley and oats has begun in some areas of Ontario, while swathing of spring wheat fields were still about a week away, the report said.

 

Early rapeseed fields looks excellent with a heavy crop canopy. Differences in standability between varieties are evident, with stalk breakage occurring in some heavy canopies. Cool nighttime temperatures and adequate soil moisture should minimize the risk of brown 'heat' damaged seed, the report said. 

 

Soft white wheat quality has been the hardest hit, with most samples now downgraded due to sprouts. Fusarium levels, mildew, and black point have also downgraded some samples of red wheat, the report said.

 

Unlike most summers, when the challenge in pasture management has been to provide enough volume of forage to the livestock, the challenge this year is maintaining the quality of forage, the report indicated. Most pastures have grass that has moved ahead of the livestock, and is now over-mature and unpalatable.