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Ontario Cereal Crops Committee releases 2019 spring cereals performance data

November 6, 2019  By Top Crop Manager



The Ontario Cereal Crops Committee (OCCC) released spring cereals performance data for 2019, which contains the most recent varietal information on spring cereals that were planted and harvested in 2018.

The full report covers performance data for spring wheat, barley and oats, and is available in PDF form on gocereals.ca. The site includes additional information including head-to-head comparisons of cereal varieties on responses such as maturity, yield, straw yield, Fusarium head blight resistance, and more.

No data for winter wheat

This year, all of the winter wheat performance trials conducted in southern and eastern Ontario were severely affected by the prolonged wet weather during the fall, winter and spring, according to a released statement by OCCC. Two locations were not planted in the fall of 2018, and many of the remaining locations were either lost over the winter, or tests were discarded because they were too variable to produce reliable data.

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As a result, the OCCC did not publish a 2019 winter cereals performance trials report. Growers were advised to use the 2018 report as their guide in selecting varieties for planting this fall, which is available on the GoCereals.ca website in the “Downloads” section on the main page. However, data that is deemed acceptable from 2019 will still be incorporated into the long-term averages for future reports.

Both trials in northern Ontario (area 5) were expected to produce reliable data but harvest was extremely delayed, pushing the report’s publication date. As of November, the 2019 report of winter wheat performance trials for just the northern Ontario area is now available online.

The Ontario Cereals Crop Committee acts as the recommending body to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) for cereal variety registration in Ontario. The OCCC also coordinates cereal performance testing, dissemination of the results and reviews cereal-related research to facilitate its coordination.

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