{"id":760958,"date":"2026-06-25T20:38:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T20:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/760958\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T20:38:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T20:38:17","slug":"ontario-winter-wheat-timely-fall-planting-drives-yields","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/760958\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario winter wheat: timely fall planting drives yields"},"content":{"rendered":"

A slow start to the wheat planting season benefited this year\u2019s wheat crop, but challenges such as stripe rust<\/a> continue to threaten yield potential.<\/p>\n

Why it matters<\/p>\n

Having healthy wheat emerge from winter can make or break a wheat crop.<\/p>\n

Wheat Wisdom Wednesday, held at C&M Seeds near Palmerston on June 24, provided farmers with crop management suggestions for these and other challenges. The event connected producers with industry experts through live demonstrations and discussions on improving yields and the latest innovations in wheat management.<\/p>\n

\"Wheat<\/p>\n

Wheat Wednesday participants Erica Hamilton, Gabby Johnston and Leah Gallaher measure the distance between plants and plant size to determine crop health.
\n Photo:
\n Sarah McGoldrick<\/p>\n

Hitting the ideal winter wheat planting window can be an effective tool in reducing the impact of weeds and stripe rust, experts told attendees.<\/p>\n

Joanna Follings, cereals specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness, told Farmtario that timely planting is a key driver of a successful yield.<\/p>\n

\u201cFields that were planted in a timely fashion or within their planting window last year really came through well in the winter, had established a really good root system, lots of tillering, and so they were really set up for the highest yield potential,\u201d she said, adding that later-planted fields struggled with the slow spring.<\/p>\n

Read Also<\/p>\n


\n \"Wheat
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

\"OMAFA<\/p>\n

Joanna Follings, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness cereals expert,\tinspects wheat plots at Wheat Wisdom Wednesday held at C&M Seeds near Palmerston, Ont.
\n Photo:
\n Sarah McGoldrick<\/p>\n

Follings noted the use of monoammonium phosphate (MAP) in-furrow with seed was crucial for survival, especially under cool conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose fields that didn\u2019t get MAP last fall really struggled from a survival standpoint,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Winter wheat management checklist<\/p>\n

Plant within your ideal winter wheat window to build roots and tillering before winter
\n Apply MAP in-furrow with seed to improve survival, especially in cool conditions
\n Prioritize fall weed control, particularly for bluegrass
\n Know your variety\u2019s stripe rust susceptibility and consider a two-pass fungicide program
\n Target spring herbicide application, with fall herbicide as the backup<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, she said growers should prioritize fall weed control to prevent problems next spring, particularly with bluegrass.<\/p>\n

This year, many weeds had completed their seasonal growth cycle before crops were planted and the delayed planting season limited their impact. However, she cautioned that growers planting this fall may not benefit from those same conditions and could face greater weed pressure next spring if control measures are not used.<\/p>\n

\"Particpants<\/p>\n

Particpants of Wheat Wednesday at C&M Seeds near Palmerston were able to get a first hand look at the response of various seed varieties to different growing conditions. Photo: Sarah McGoldrick<\/p>\n

When tackling stripe rust, she advised growers to understand varietal susceptibility and consider a two-pass fungicide program.<\/p>\n

\u201cStripe<\/a> rust<\/a> continues to be a challenge for growers. It\u2019s been showing up earlier and earlier each year, although this year it showed up about 10 days later than it did last year, which I think worked in our favour,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She noted that a spring herbicide<\/a> application is ideal, but weather conditions and other factors can prevent growers from hitting those target application windows.<\/p>\n

\u201cNine times out of 10, we\u2019re not hitting those early spring applications,\u201d Follings said, adding that the next option would be a fall herbicide application.<\/p>\n

Despite being early in the growing season, Follings said growers have \u201clucked out\u201d with cool temperatures creating ideal grain-growing conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really hopeful that we\u2019ll have another really good winter wheat crop this year,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"C&M<\/p>\n

Tim Meulensteen, C&M Seeds agronomist, shares information on the latest innovations in wheat seed development.
\n Photo:
\n Sarah McGoldrick<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A slow start to the wheat planting season benefited this year\u2019s wheat crop, but challenges such as stripe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":760959,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49,48,271123,151183,268755,61,7433,268757],"class_list":["post-760958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-rye","tag-spring-wheat","tag-stripe-rust","tag-technology","tag-wheat","tag-winter-wheat"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=760958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/760959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}