Harvesting soybeans in Dundas County.
Farmers Forum staff
Eastern Ontario’s soybean crop looks good in the bin, though lingering wet and humid weather in October slowed the harvest and ensured much of the crop required drying.
Morrisburg-area cash-cropper Arden Schneckenburger reported a “better than expected” soybean crop, yielding “a shade higher” than average in the mid-50s bushels-per-acre range.
The provincial soybean yield record is 53 bu/ac set in 2018, according to crop insurance provider Agricorp.
Producers were disappointed at how slowly the crop was drying in the field this fall, he said, given the early planting followed by an exceptionally hot and dry summer. “They all expected they would be … done by Thanksgiving. That has taken a few people by surprise.”
Williamstown’s Martin Lang finished harvesting his 450 acres of beans by Oct. 20. Yields were good but he also had to dry most of them.
“The problem we’ve been having is humidity,” he said. “I’m not complaining too much, it’s a good yield, prices are good.”
IP soybean growers, in particular, he said, are “really having a tough time” because they couldn’t harvest in moist conditions without staining the beans and losing premiums.
Napanee-area egg and crop farmer Max Kaiser managed to beat the moisture, reporting he finished harvesting his 320 soybean acres by Sept. 21. He said he grew a couple of slightly shorter-season varieties that yielded 51 bu/ac this year.
Vankleek Hill crop farmer and custom operator Trevor Cunning said his farm’s fully harvested soybean fields yielded “nothing spectacular and nothing tragic” this year. “All of our crop went through the dryer.”
