Wheat crop doing 'reasonably well' despite early season issues

Monday, July 21, 2014

by MATT McINTOSH

Despite a bleak outlook earlier, this summer’s wheat harvest is proving to be better than initially expected, says Peter Johnson, cereal specialist for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

While crop quality and yield has been good overall, he says the presence of dead spots and stresses caused by unfavourable conditions earlier in the year means results can really vary between farms.

“We are doing wonderfully this year,” says Dave VanSegbrook, a cash crop and vegetable farmer near Wallaceburg. “There hasn’t been an issue with fusarium, and even though we are only about half finished, we’re seeing 100 bushels per acre.”

“We were also lucky not to have any dead spots.”

VanSegbrook, who planted his soft red wheat on loam and clay loam soil, attributes the crop’s success to both good drainage and good timing; the wheat he is harvesting, he says, was planted early, and may not be indicative of farmers who were forced to plant their crops later in the season.

Comparatively, Kevin Kimball, a Leamington area cash crop producer, says his fields are only producing about 70 to 75 bushels per acre, and contain a number of dead spots left over from the harsh winter and wet spring. Where standing water did not damage the crop, though, Kimball says his wheat actually did fairly well.

“Things are a little better than expected,” he says.

Even with dead spots and a lower yield, Kimball also says fusarium is not present in his crop. According to Johnson, most samples taken in Ontario so far show fusarium levels ranging from 0.2 to 0.9 per cent. He describes these amounts as “acceptable.”

According to Johnson, one of the reasons this year’s wheat crop is good “in relative terms” has to do with moderate temperatures. Wheat, he says, does not fare as well in conditions above 25 C. This means the relatively temperate weather experienced in Ontario thus far this summer has helped improve the yield of those plants not reeling from damage inflicted earlier in the year.

“Straw demand is high right now, and prices are also solid,” says Johnson. “Hopefully that should help offset some problems as well.”

Johnson reiterates, however, that Ontario’s farmers are about seven to 10 days behind this year, thanks to wet weather in the spring. Consequently, most farmers north of Essex and Kent County are just beginning to harvest their wheat, so exact numbers on yield quantity and quality remain to be determined. BF