EASTERN ONTARIO — The corn harvest was off to a slow start amid wet conditions in Eastern Ontario as some producers were forced to wait until Oct. 27 to get into their first field.
In Morewood, south of Ottawa, Bluejaq Custom Farming’’s Tim Jaquemet had taken off 150 acres as high-moisture feed and gauged above average yields of between 160 and 180 bu/ac.
Moisture was in the 21 to 24% range, he reported Oct. 26, with very good bushel weight on the kernels.
Cash-cropper Kevin Suud of Bethany reported “exceptional” yields of 195 bu/ac on 400 acres of grain corn he had managed to harvest by Oct. 27. But he had another 550 acres to go, with the wet conditions slowing progress. One forecast is calling for a record-breaking 198 bu.ac of corn in Eastern Ontario this year. Yields last year averaged 141.1 bu/ac.
“The corn’s very good, good quality, and really good yields,” Suud said. Yield was up 20 to 30 bu/ac over the same fields when they were last in corn two years ago, he said, an “unbelievable” outcome and record for his farm. He added that moisture was clocking in at a reasonable 23 to 26%.
“Usually, we don’t have the prices to go along with high yields, so it’s nice to have the two line up this year,” he observed.
