Written by: Laura Shaw, Crop Advisor, Holmes Agro
There has been lots of chatter of how this summer’s unpredictable weather and hazy conditions may affect crops progress into the fall. The warm temperatures at the beginning of September were well received and combined with good soil moisture levels. It was great to watch the crops continue to progress in the right direction.
| Crop Year | Accumulated CHU
May 1st to August 31st |
| 2023 | 2370 |
| 2022 | 2480 |
| 2021 | 2540 |
| *Historical weather data from Mono Center
climate.weather.gc.ca/historical_data/search_historic_data_e.html |
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Where Is Crop Staging Compared to Past Years
As with every year, crop staging will vary depending on planting date and maturity zone. To speak generally, as of September 1st in Dufferin County most soybean fields were at full seed (R6) with a full soybean pod on one of the upper 4 nodes of the main stem. With the days getting shorter soybeans (which are daylight sensitive) across the area have started to progress towards maturity. Corn across the area was in the dough stage (R4) or approaching dent stage (R5).
The following charts from the Purdue University ‘Corn and Soybean Field Guides’ are a good tool for a general idea of a timeline till crops reach maturity and combines will be rolling in fields.
| Corn Growth Stage | Days after Silk | % Moisture | Expected Start Day |
| R3 – Milk | 18 to 20 | – | August 18 – 20 |
| R4 – Dough | 24 to 26 | 70 | August 24 – 29 |
| R5 – Dent | 31 to 33 | 45 | Sept 1 – 3 |
| R6 – Black Layer | 55 to 65 | 30 | Sept 24 – Oct 3 |
The ample moisture led to both tall corn and soybeans along with lush plant canopies. This can provide its own challenges but also creates great discussion points. What is the lodging potential? Are you seeing increased disease pressure (white mould) in soybeans? Leaf or ear infections in corn? The other side of this discussion is what the impact may be on yields. Corn gets 10% of it’s yield from the girth of the cob, 70% from the length, and 20% from the depth. Many fields were able to maximize kernels per row/length, and combined with low stress during silking has reduced tip back and set the crop up for success.
Now is a great time to evaluate the performance of each variety in the field, how is it progressing? What effect has the dry spring and cool temperatures combined with wet summer had? Does the maturity match my growing conditions? Every year poses unique wins and challenges, now is the time to make the notes to set up for success in 2024.
“You can’t move forward until you look back”