Crop Tour Finds Average Ontario Corn, Soy Yield Potential

The Great Lakes Grain Crop Assessment tour indicates generally average Ontario corn and soybean crops this year, albeit with plenty of variability. 

The tour – which spanned all the way from Windsor to Ottawa and assessed over 900 corn and soybean fields – estimated an average provincial corn yield of 176.9 bu/acre, and the average soybean yield of 48.8 bu/acre. Results of the tour were announced Monday. 

The tour yield projections are basically in line with Statistics Canada’s model-based estimates released at the end of August, which put corn at 175.2 bu/acre and soybeans at 51.6 bu/acre. StatsCan is due to release updated yield estimates in a report Wednesday. 

As shown on the map below, some of the best crops in the province were found in Wellington County, where the average corn and soybean yields were pegged by the tour at 198.8 bu and 59 bu/acre, respectively. On the other hand, average corn and soybean yields in Waterloo Region – which was overly dry this year - were estimated at just 147.6 bu and 38.2 bu/acre. Crops in Peel Region were similarly disappointing, with corn expected to yield only 143.7 bu/acre and soybeans 45.4 bu/acre. 

Crops in most of the province were generally planted on time in the spring. However, heavy rains following planting in many areas caused some replanting and lower population stands. Drier than normal conditions then followed in June and July, with some areas barely having any measurable rainfall. 

“The growing season was variable across the province to say the least,” said a news release announcing the tour’s findings. 

The Great Lakes Grain Crop Assessment Tour has been conducted each year since 2010 to assess the size of the Ontario crop as well as give growers a better understanding of how their crop is performing compared to others in the province. It also allows growers, along with their agronomists and grain marketers, an opportunity to refine their management plans for future improvements in production and marketing.