Want to increase your wheat and soy yields? Then grow more corn.
You may not believe that if Ontario producers grew more corn overall yields will improve. But I suggest to you that is what can happen.
Currently our corn yields are higher than most would have thought possible. Provincial average for the last three years has been great. The average corn yield during the past five years has increased by about 29 bu/ac compared to the previous five year average.
During this time both wheat and soy yields have had much more conservative yield increases. The reason is simple. Ontario producers have too short a rotation between consecutive crops of wheat and soys. If you want higher yields from these two crops the rotation has to be lengthened. The main way to do this is by growing more corn.
This is reminiscent of the 70’s when continuous corn was common. During that time corn after corn was not as rewarding as first year corn. In the 70’s corn after corn made more money that growing wheat or soys.
I suggest that we have returned to that time when growing corn after corn is more financially rewarding than growing as much soys as is currently grown in Ontario. BF