RealAg Crop Update Ontario: The Threat of Frost Looms as the Countdown to Harvest Continues

This mornings frost warning had some Ontario farmer’s teeth chattering, but it wasn’t the cold that did it. Farmers in the certain counties of Ontario would be understandably nervous depending on how far along their corn crop is. Frost at the wrong time can take a sizeable bite out of your corn yield. Once temperatures drop below -2 celcius, leaves and stalks in the corn plant are damaged and photosynthesis and remobilization stop. That means grain fill stops and black layer or brown layer begins. Depending on what growth stage your at, it can mean losses ranging from 5 to 40 percent of your yield.

In this episode of the RealAg Crop Update, we hit the grounds of Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show to talk to three different agronomists to get a sense of how far off the crop is from harvest. RealAg’s Bernard Tobin(@AgBern on Twitter) spoke to Ken Currah of PRIDE Seeds, Shawn Brenneman of Syngenta and Aric Bos of Pioneer.

If you cannot see the embedded video below click here.