While planting is nearly complete in many areas across Ontario, excessive rainfall has stalled operations in some areas, forcing farmers to consider switching planned corn acreage to soybean plantings.
Real Agriculture agronomist Peter Johnson says this is a decision with significant crop implications and urges farmers to consider all potential impacts before switching to soybean cultivation: “An immediate switch to soybeans should not be the first choice,” he stresses.
At an Agribusiness Breakfast in Ridgetown, Ont., on Tuesday, agronomists and agricultural business representatives gave updates on planting progress and rainfall, including that rain gauges captured up to seven inches of rain in Middlesex and surrounding counties over the past week.
The wet weather has kept planters down for days, and many farmers will likely switch to soybeans when they resume planting. Johnson said he is encouraging farmers to continue growing corn to limit the impact that soybean growth will have on crop rotations. He noted that corn can produce up to 200 bushels per acre in an 85-day growing season, and he encourages farmers to look long-term at shorter-growing hybrids before switching to soybeans.
Johnson agreed that growers in areas with shorter growing seasons have limited options for switching corn, “but if you switch from 105 days to 95 days, you can get 250 bushels per acre. There are some really good hybrids out there.” Seed company representatives at the meeting confirmed that short-season corn hybrids are in good supply, as companies have been successful in moving seed around the state in recent weeks.
Johnson said Ontario producers are already overgrowing soybeans in crop rotations, and increasing planting would make diseases such as soybean cyst nematode (SCN) and sudden death syndrome (SDS) even more difficult to manage.
Albert Tenuta, a plant pathologist with Ontario’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, echoed Johnson’s comments about disease management. He said adding another cycle of soybeans to a rotation could certainly give pests an advantage. “One thing to consider when switching to a rotation is all the benefits that staying in the rotation has helped maintain or reduce SCN and SDS,” Tenuta said. “One year of soybeans could undo all of that benefit.”
Dale Cowan, agricultural strategy manager for the AGRIS cooperative, understands the concerns of farmers who switched to soybean cultivation and want to stay put. “What farmers are afraid of is the corn coming in at harvest with low weight and high moisture, which is not a yield issue,” Cowan said.
But in areas like Essex County, where temperatures often exceed 4,000 heat units, “there’s a good chance you’ll get enough heat to mature full-season hybrids even if you don’t plant corn until the first week of June,” Cowan said.
