Some producers wished the storm watered their crops
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
A storm that brought rain, hail and a tornado warning damaged crops in parts of southwestern Ontario.
After the storm, farmers and their advisers walked fields and assessed damages.
“The main issue we saw was a lot of (corn) leaf shredding from the hail,” Virginia Janssen, a sales agronomist with Oxford AgroPro, told Farms.com today. “I heard reports of some crops being complete losses, but I wouldn’t say any of the fields I was in were in that kind of shape.
“But farmers can expect some yield loss.”
This time of year, farmers are limited in their recovery options.
Most of the corn has all of its leaves, so no new leaves will emerge to recoup any yield.
But if fields only sustained minor hail damage, a fungicide application can “help reduce other stressors on the plant,” Janssen said.
Speaking with an input supplier can also give farmers a better idea of the potential yield damage and if it’s worth making an insurance claim, she added.
While some farmers calculated yield loss, others hoped the storm provided their fields with much needed moisture.
As August approaches, some growers are concerned about drought damage.
“I’ve only had one inch of rain in the whole month of July,” Dave Ainslie, a cash crop producer from Essex County, told Farms.com today. “I can see limitations on my corn yields due to the dry conditions.”
The storm formed around Ainslie’s farm, yet his crops received little to no moisture.
“I could go about five kilometres in any direction and it would be a totally different story,” he said.
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