As the spring planting window closes, crops are in good shape for the most part, with some expected regional differences.
Alfalfa in western and southwestern Ontario suffered a great deal of winter damage or die-out, while alfalfa and winter wheat in eastern Ontario weathered the winter better than normal.
Rainfall rates in late April and early May were for the most part not excessive, but there weren’t the typical spring sunny warm days to dry out the soil, and the frequent small showers continued to slow down the drying process. As well, soils were still saturated from the excessively wet fall of 2021 in many places. These factors led to a condensed planting window for major row crops.
In general, soil conditions have been excellent for seeding this spring when farmers were finally able to get into them. However, there is now evidence of compaction in areas created by starting in fields when the soils were not quite” fit.” In many places, soils were dry in the top half-inch but saturated below. |READ MORE
