Dry spells followed by heavy rain put crops in jeopardy for Southwestern Ontario farmers

Farmers in southwestern Ontario are seeing lighter yields and damaged crops as they head into harvest season thanks to a mix of record-setting dry months followed by recent heavy rainfall and flooding.

The weather has been incredibly challenging, said Peter Johnson, an agronomist and host of Wheat Pete's Word — a podcast that discusses issues affecting farmers.

"Unfortunately, sometimes Mother Nature isn't all that motherly," said Johnson.

The weather was too dry for wheat to properly develop in the London, Ont., area in June, a situation farmers in the region also faced last year.

The dry spell ended with heavy rains in July and Johnson said some growers reported up to 43 centimetres of rain on their fields — equivalent to a half year's worth of normal precipitation in the region.

"That's when we harvest, so quality was really affected," he said.

While wheat grown in drought-prone soil was the worst hit, Johnson said higher-quality soil also produced below-average yields in Southwestern Ontario.

Soybeans didn't fare much better. Wet conditions mixed with humidity made white mould disease a common sight on the crops, cutting into total yields, Johnson said.

LISTEN | How this summer's weather is affecting the crops on CBC London Morning:

Weather causing unpredictable yields

Heavy rains killed all the sweet corn and damaged most of the field corn at Thamesdale Sweet Corn in London, said owner Bruce Johnson.

"We're going to have to get an awful lot of heat in September or we'll have to pay a lot to dry the field corn in storage," he said.

Soil compaction from the heavy rain is another factor he worries about as it can lead to lower yields from poor root growth and affect the corn's growth in future seasons.

Jennifer Pfenning, a vegetable farmer in New Hamburg, Ont. and the president of the National Farmer's Union, said it has been a mixed bag for her farm.

"We've got wet spots in the field where crops have drowned out in parts," Pfenning said.

While the root vegetables that weren't drowned by the rains look fine at first glance, she won't know until harvest between late October and early November whether there's been an impact.

"When we pull them, the roots could be rotten. They could also have no shelf life because when the soil is completely saturated, it impacts soil biology and how the product stores," she said. "It's very unpredictable."

Farmers hoping for a better September

At the moment, Johnson said many corn farmers are looking at crops that reach as high as 12 feet tall, despite the fluctuating weather in the region. Still, they need a good September to bring their crops to full maturity.

In 2019, farmers were in a similar position but a mix of steadily high temperatures and warm nights turned things around and allowed for a normal harvest.

But if nights drop below 9 degrees, the corn won't photosynthesize, which spells trouble for farmers.

"If we get an early frost, then corn crops may not mature and if it doesn't mature that causes all sorts of problems."