Ontario farmers who leave corn in the field over winter will see a yield loss, but can also save money on drying costs
DRESDEN, Ont. — Last year’s Ontario corn harvest is finally near completion.
Don Kabbes, an agronomist with AGRIS Co-operative, said as much as 20 to 30 percent of the crop was left standing over the winter in some areas of the province.
“We might have had a record crop if we had had the summer to finish the crop,” he said.
An average of more than 160 bushels per acre was the second highest yield on record, but quality was another matter.
Dale Cowan, senior agronomist with AGRIS, said most of the crop failed to reach black layer, which is the point of physiological maturity at which the kernels on the cob seal themselves from the rest of the plant.
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Instead, Cowan said the crop developed what’s known as brown layering.
Growers delayed harvest last fall in the hopes that the crop would dry down. Much of the corn was taken off at moisture levels of more than 30 percent and there were many sample grade deliveries, largely because of damaged kernels and high levels of fines.
Ontario growers harvest corn at around 25 percent moisture in a normal fall. At that point it can be dried down using air or heated-air systems.
Leaving the corn in the field over the winter is another option, although only a handful of farmers intentionally employ the strategy.
Harry Buurma of Sarnia said the trick is to leave only those fields with sufficient stalk strength. His over-wintering yield losses have averaged out to seven percent over the years, but he’s also saved on drying costs.
The result has been a net economic gain.
Kabbes suspected that most farmers who left last year’s corn standing did so in fields with the greatest stalk strength.
Greg Stewart, who recently retired as the agriculture ministry’s corn specialist, said many growers were pleasantly surprised as they harvested their remaining corn this spring.
It’s pretty much been a good news story,” he said.
“The weather has been nice. That is, there’s been very little heavy, sloppy snow to drag that corn down. What I’ve been hearing from growers is that the moisture has been coming down nicely, allowing guys to harvest corn at 15 or 16 percent in some cases.”
Test weights remain low, Stewart added, but fine particles are down because growers have been able to harvest more intact kernels.
Kabbes said he’s heard corn has been harvested at higher moisture levels but agreed with Stewart that there’s been an improvement in quality.
Kabbes said growers have told him yields are 10 to 25 bushels per acre lower than what was coming off the same fields last year.
