Wet spring delays crop but farmers hopeful
Pollination was poor for some plants, but harvest is expected to rebound
Our cool, wet spring has delayed crop planting and discouraged bees from pollinating certain fruit trees. But yields can still be good provided Mother Nature has no summer surprises in store.
Despite record rainfalls wreaking havoc on farmers’ fields and orchards in April and May, the precipitation was preferable to last year’s hot and drought-like conditions that damaged the harvest.
The Ontario Tender Fruit Association is expecting a good-sized crop this year, said association manager Sarah Marshall.
“At this stage, we’re just crossing our fingers that we don’t get hail. But it’s looking good.”
The spring’s rain and cool weather may have delayed crop growth, but “things pick up quickly with heat” and Niagara fruit farmers should start harvesting around July 17.
“We’re hoping to catch up this year, Marshall said.
“Last year at the end of May, the valve on the rain fell off. So we had drought conditions after that. Production was down quite a bit — peaches, the association’s biggest crop, were down 20 per cent in size and volume …”
Binbrook farmer Drew Spoelstra said compared to last year, it’s certainly
better to have moisture. But the spring’s excessive rain delayed planting field crops like the corn, wheat, soybeans and hay that he grows on his farm. “Most of May was a writeoff.” Late planting, coupled with required reseeding after some flooding, could result in lower yields and delay the harvest, said Spoelstra, who is also an Ontario Federation of Agriculture executive board member.
Spoelstra had to reseed some corn this year and still has a third of his soybeans to plant. Normally, he’s done all seeding by the end of May.
Plants being seeded now can still catch up to the growing season with “warm, good growing conditions, and timely rain,” he said.
There is more hope now compared to last year at this time, he added.
“We were always waiting for that million-dollar rain last year and it never happened.”
Field crops yields were down 40 per cent.
Michael Josiak with the Vineland Research Station on agriculture says this year’s fruit and vegetable successes will be hit and miss depending on the crop.
Growers are expecting a full crop of peaches and nectarines, for example, especially with all the heat we’ve had this past week, Josiak said. Grapes are also looking fine, he added.
The reasonably mild winter has helped here, making “bud survival” good, he says. And the recent hot weather means crops like eggplants and sweet potato planted two weeks later than usual are doing fine now.
However, cherries, plums, and some apples and pears weren’t properly pollinated.
“Bees don’t like cold, wet weather,” he explained.
Light yields are expected, but different varieties, with different bloom times, may save the day.
“It’s just a late start everywhere. But everything’s got moisture, which is much better than last year,” Josiak adds.
Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs field crop specialist Chris Brown said: “It’s amazing in this past weekend of heat how much crop growth occurred in just two or three days.”
Corn advanced by one leaf in two days, when it normally takes three to four days. The recent heat spell put the growing season a week behind the average of the past five, she said.
The heat has pushed strawberries to advance quickly, but “it really depends on the weather in the next few weeks for how fast they come on.”
In other crops, asparagus was on time, but not as good as last year’s because of the rain.
Potatoes and vegetables, generally planted in sandy soil, should have a normal season, she added.
“It all comes down to how much rain fell and how fast the soil dried out.”
It’s amazing in this past weekend of heat how much crop growth occurred in just two or three days, CHRIS BROWN MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE