Looking back at the 2018 soybean crop

 

Staff Writer

Farms.com

 

Significant rainfall towards the end of July and throughout August pushed this year’s soybean yields to an all-time high.

 

Despite dry conditions between May and the first few weeks of July, Ontario soybeans “out-yielded all provinces in Canada and will out-yield the US average,” said a Thursday Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) field crop report. 

 

The 2018 provincial average reached 54 bushels per acre (bu/ac) as of Thursday, with 51 per cent of insured producers having reported their yields, the report said.

 

“The yields were good” this year, Larry Freeman, a cash crop producer in Hamilton-Wentworth, told Farms.com Thursday. “Everything was kind of late getting started because the spring was so late, but … we did get (the beans) all off in pretty reasonable time.

 

“The moisture was a little high … (but) and as we went on, the moisture got down to where it should have been.”

 

The final 2018 average will probably be lower as producers report more acres. However, the highest provincial average prior to this year was 2012, when soybeans yielded 48.3 bu/ac.

 

Research trials “reached over 95 bu/ac,” demonstrating the potential soybeans have under “favorable growing conditions in Ontario,” the report said. This year, the province had “one of the largest acreages ever planted at 3.02 million acres seeded.” 

 

Some growers are facing challenges with this year’s season, however. Some fields were unsalvageable because of little rainfall. Other producers, in contrast, still have their crops in fields because of excessive rainfall.

 

“It’s been a tough fall all the way through,” Freeman said.

 

Soybeans can naturally dry in the field, meaning they don’t need bin drying. Some farmers, however, are finding natural drying to be unfeasible due to a very wet fall. Soybeans can endure several wet-dry cycles in the fall if the plants are “physiologically mature,” and can endure light snowfall prior to harvest, the report said. Excessive snowfall will pull the plants down, making harvest extremely difficult. If snow melts and the plants are standing, producers can harvest in December or January. 

 

Growers should rotate crops to help achieve high yields. Too many soybeans in a crop rotation damages soil health and can contribute to disease and lower yields. 

 

Looking ahead, the 2019 growing season could have record acreage, the report said.