It started cool, turned hot and dry, and now the rain has started to fall — just in time for corn pollination. Ontario’s 2020 growing season is a far cry from perfect but it’s certainly much better than last year at this point.
Doug Alderman, vice president of sales and marketing for PRIDE Seeds, says that the rain is welcome for many parts of the province, as many crops were looking pretty parched in some parts of the province and especially the east side.
Much of the wheat crop is off or set to harvest shortly, and yields were impacted by the hot dry weather during gain fill for sure. What is proving somewhat tricky right now is scouting for western bean cutworm. Right now is when farmers should be seeing egg masses and moths in traps, and it seems there are hot spots for the insect but other areas with low pressure.
This seems somewhat counter to what the rest of the year has brought so far, as hot, dry weather often favours insect development. Western bean cutworm seems the opposite, but with the refresh of recent rains, numbers could climb.
Soybean yields hinge so much on August rain, it remains to be seen how the weather will turn out for the bean crop.
Listen on for more with Alderman and Shaun Haney, here:
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