General
The weather in the past week has being great for planting. Crop heat unit accumulation from the 1st of May are about 200 as of the 15th of May as compared to the normal of 150 (Ottawa airport). Some areas had a light frosts this past Friday and Saturday. Where the fields were left uneven last fall, the soils are working up lumpy requiring more secondary tillage. Smoother fields were fine with a shallow, light working.
Forages
Several alfalfa fields are looking thin. Stands with some grasses are looking better, especially where fertility was applied this spring. The recent heat is bringing on the alfalfa. The grass maturity is advancing faster than the alfalfa for this time of year. Last year’s late harvest conditions made for more compaction and weaker stands, and really good hay fields in eastern Ontario are hard to find. Better stands can be found south of highway 43 and east in the St. Isidore to Crysler area on the lighter ground.
Winter Wheat
The last of the nitrogen is going on now. Early fungicide applications are also going on. Some stands are still growing slowly. The nice corn planting conditions will convince a few growers to take wheat out to plant corn. Of the winterkilled winter wheat fields, most have been planted to corn. A few growers have filled the patches with spring wheat, particularly those who had spring wheat in their plans already. Some of the wheat ground has been “planted green” to soybeans, with the intention to spray off the winter wheat immediately following planting.
Spring cereals
Slight increase in interest in growing barley than in the past, mostly for feed. Early planted spring wheat has emerged nicely thanks to timely rains after planting.
Corn
Planted acreage ranges from 60% to 90 % with most of the acreage planted north of 43 highway. Planting was delayed because the clay soils were slow to dry, and some growers are taking advantage of dry conditions to spread manure first before planting corn. A reminder to adjust planters deeper to ensure proper moisture as the soils continue to dry out. Non-GMO contracts are full for 2018. Ingredion Canada Corporation is now starting to contract for 2019.
Soybeans
About 10 to 30% of the soybean acres have been planted as of the 15th. This figure increases up to 50% in the eastern part of the region.
IP interest seems to be waning, and some who have grown it in the past have abandoned. This was attributed to lower premiums, and to competition from increased acres in the U.S. It was generally agreed that those who have been planting bin-run IP soybeans for many years are missing out on advances in genetics that are available with newer, more productive varieties. Some put the figure at up to 10 bushels between older and currently-available genetics.
Markets
There were no market updates at the meeting. South of the border, the USDA reports that 62% of corn has been planted and 28% has emerged, on par with the average for recent years.
For soybeans, the numbers are 35% and 10% for planted acres and emergence, respectively, higher than average for this time of year.
Weeds
Horsetail control and suppression is still an issue in some fields. Some reported using MCPA or Broadstrike pre-emergence. It’s “not perfect, but the best we have”. There seems to be somewhat better control once horsetail has emerged. Caution, Broadstrike can be hard on corn.
Winchester Research Station update
This year, the station has several trials on herbicides, fungicides and spring cereals. The OCCC (Ontario Cereal Crop Committee) barley trial has several malting varieties in it this year.
Holly Byker is looking for fleabane in wheat fields for a weed control trial. If you have a potential site, you can contact Holly at: hbyker@uoguelph.ca or 613-340-7625.
Source : Field Crop News