How Ontario crops are shaping up so far

Cereals

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Winter wheat is advanced by 10-14 days in southern Ontario compared to other years, particularly in early planted fields. Fields in Essex are now at the early boot stages. Regions of the province further north and east as well as later planted fields are not as advanced and are at the first to second node (GS31-32) growth stages. As fields continue to advance, herbicide applications should be wrapped up. Many weeds being targeted in fields such as chickweed, fleabane, Shepherd’s Purse and dandelion are already past their targeted window and should be controlled in the fall. If fields are at or approaching flag leaf, dollars should be saved for fungicide applications instead of herbicide applications.

Early planted fields with high stem counts may be at risk of lodging, especially if the variety being grown is prone to lodging or there is a history of manure applications. A varieties lodging score can be found at GoCrops.ca. To help manage lodging in those high-risk fields, a plant growth regulator application can help reduce lodging risk and can be applied up to the flag leaf emerging (GS 37). Sulphur deficiency is appearing in fields, particularly in the south (Essex, Chatham-Kent and Lambton) where sulphur was not applied along with nitrogen. An application of 10 lbs of sulphur per acre, even after flag leaf, can be applied to correct a deficiency. Manganese (Mn) deficiency is present in some areas in the south as well, predominantly on sandier knolls within fields. A foliar application at 2 lbs of Mn per acre using manganese sulphate powder will provide correction of the deficiency. Make sure to scout your fields, as not all yellow spots are the same!

Winter barley in southern Ontario is now at the boot to early heading stages. Spring wheat, oats and barley seeding continues.

True armyworm moths have been found at low levels along with aphids and cereal leaf beetle adults. Fields are well below thresholds but should continue to be scouted as the season progresses. The Great Lakes and Maritimes Pest Monitoring Network provides weekly true armyworm trap counts.

Soybeans

Slow planting progress has been made to date due to wet conditions. A few fields with lighter soils have been planted and are starting to emerge. Soybeans are very sensitive to soil compaction so waiting for soils to be fit before seeding is more important than planting date.

Many soybean fields have now received an herbicide burndown and fertilizer application. The use of Enlist (E3) soybeans has become more widespread. Keep careful records of which fields were seeded with which herbicide trait. Sadly, every year some soybean fields are destroyed by mistaken herbicide application. Enlist soybeans are not tolerant to Dicamba. IP soybean acreage is up this year. With recent warm weather weeds are growing extremely quickly. Canada fleabane is about to bolt. Two or three modes of action should be used for control. Using just a glyphosate burndown is not effective. Use high water volumes and a surfactant. There are no post emergent control options in IP soybeans for Canada fleabane.

Good soil fertility is important to achieve excellent soybean yields. A 50 bu/ac crop will remove 40 lb/ac of phosphorus (P) and 70lbs/ac of potassium (K) in the grain, but in-season plant uptake of K is twice that amount. If soil test values are below 20 ppm for P and 120 ppm for K soybeans will respond well to a spring applied fertilizer. The lower the soil test the greater the likelihood of a yield gain from applied fertilizer. If soil tests are below 10 ppm for P and 100 ppm for K a response of 5 bu/ac or more can be expected from spring applied fertilizer. Broadcast fertilizer works equally well for soybeans compared with banding. Keep in mind that soybeans are sensitive to fertilizer burn so no dry potassium or nitrogen (N) fertilizer should go in-furrow. The maximum safe rate for a 2X2 band is a total of 90 kg/ha of N + K20.

Corn

Corn planting has been concentrated mainly on lighter textured soils due to sporadic showers across the province. In a few counties up to 10 per cent of the crop has been planted and some growers have almost finished. Although Ontario trials have shown that the highest yields often result from planting during the last week of April or the first week of May, planting into fit soils is more important than the exact planting date. Uniform emergence is much more important in corn than soybeans. It is important to note that research has also shown that there is still a 95 per cent yield potential available even when seeding as late as May 25th in much of Ontario. Switching to shorter season hybrids is not warranted at this calendar date. Switching to shorter season hybrids is not recommended until May 15-20th in areas less than 2800 CHU, May 20-25th in areas 2800-3200 CHU and May 30th to early June in areas over 3200 CHU. General recommendations are to reduce hybrids 100 CHU for every week after these dates.

Canola

Winter canola grown in southern counties is now beyond fungicide application timing for white mould prevention and pods are forming. North of Guelph, winter canola is in early bloom stages and advancing quickly. Canola can advance from first flower to 30 per cent bloom (petal drop) in 6 to 10 days. White mould infects plant tissue when flower petals colonized with mould spores land on stems and leaves. The window for fungicide application for white mould prevention closes at 50 per cent bloom, which is when there are greater than 20 open flowers on the main stem and pods are forming.

Spring canola seeding has begun and is ongoing. In northern regions (north of Muskoka) seeding is just beginning as wet soils are now starting to dry out.

Forage

Winter triticale and rye are quickly approaching forage harvest. Timely harvest is critical for forage quality so growers should continue to monitor to avoid missing the optimum harvest window. Alfalfa weevil have been found in southwestern Ontario. The action threshold to manage weevils changes with crop height. Details on weevil management are available on FieldCropNews.com