Crops: The Lynch File - Why forage yields have not kept up

Cost of harvesting and soil compaction are factors. And the yield potential of new varieties has not improved much in 30 years

by PAT LYNCH

Ontario forage yields have not kept pace with the other field crops. Current Ontario agriculture ministry statistics record Ontario’s forage yields in the last few years as about 2.4 tonnes per acre. This has slipped by about 15 per cent from the early 1980s, when the recorded yield was close to three tonnes per acre.