Ontario Grain Farmer December 2023 / January 2024

As summer arrived, there were timely rains, which helped the crops progress. However, those timely rains turned into rain that would not stop!

harvest, approximately one to two weeks delay from normal, due to the previously mentioned slower CHU accumulation throughout the year. But, the weather has allowed for one of the warmest starts to October in history and helped move the crops along. And, with any luck, it will give the 2024 wheat crop a good start. At the end of October, corn was at black layer or close to black layer for most locations. Fungicides seem to be doing their job, limiting tar spot and other diseases; however, areas close to the lower Great Lakes have been impacted especially by tar spot, with plants shutting down well before normal. Ear moulds and stalk rots are starting to cause concerns in the field, as is the potential for deoxynivalenol (DON). Looking at the long-range forecast, harvest of the remaining soybeans and into corn harvest might be a challenge with lots of

targeting leaf disease, as well as ear rots. Large hail also caused disease concerns.

moisture, both from the skies and in the harvestable crop.

With high winter wheat and spring cereal yields and what looks to be bumper crops for soybeans and corn, the prediction is that grain bin space will be short this year. As we head into 2024, some topics to keep in mind: be on the lookout for disease, pests, and new or troublesome weed species in the region and be prepared to manage the crop for new or existing threats, mitigate off-target movement of herbicides, and as always, stay safe. Laura Ferrier is a Certified Crop Advisor and Grain Farmers of Ontario’s agronomist. Read Ferrier’s Field Observations in Grain Farmers of Ontario’s weekly GrainTALK e newsletter or at www.OntarioGrainFarmer.ca during the growing season, and follow her on Twitter/X at @AustinELaura. l

Pollination, overall, was good, leading to what many hope will be an exceptional corn crop.

Spring cereals were harvested late summer into the fall, with many reports of very good yields. FALL OBSERVATIONS At the time of writing, sitting here on a 21 °C evening on our porch, listening to our combine run (the kids are in bed, so I am not in the hot seat), I have great respect for those who work in acresand not hours. Yields for soybeans so far have been average to above average, with moisture in the low to mid-teens, some reaching down into the single digits as this unusual warmth has dried down the crop very quickly. Winter wheat is being seeded as fast as it can be. It has been a late soybean

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DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024

ONTARIO GRAIN FARMER