ONTARIO — How phenomenal were Ontario winter wheat yields in 2022? The provincial average yield broke the record set only a year earlier, in 2021 — and still a fresh memory for growers — according to the latest figures from Agricorp.
The primary winter wheat types — soft white, soft red and hard red — leapfrogged that previous yield record by at least 5% and as much as 10%. 2022’s yield performance outdid the 5-year average by a whopping 15.5 % to 17.6 %. Ontario’s soft red and soft white wheat yields also cracked the 100 bu/ac mark for the first time.
Agricrop reports the following yields (bu/ac): soft white, 101 (2022), 93 (2021), 86.8 (5-year avg); soft red 100 (2022), 95 (2021), 86.6 (5-year avg); hard red 96 (2022), 87 (2021), 81.6 (5-year avg).
The organic winter wheat category tied last year’s record 65 bu/ac performance, up almost 24 % from the 5-year average.
OMAFRA’s Field Crop News says that cool nights in June and July extended the grain fill period, contributing to high kernel weights and high winter wheat yields in 2022. Conditions were optimal in Eastern Ontario, but also too wet in some cases. Harvest began in the first week of July in some of the earliest planted wheat and wrapped up by late August in other parts of the province.
Quality was also good, with little to no reports of fusarium head blight (FHB) and Deoxynivalenol (DON). Falling numbers were good, and there was little to no sprouting.
The bumper winter wheat crop also added to temporary capacity challenges at some elevators when the soybean and corn harvests rolled out very quickly this past fall.
