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Sarnia

Grain Assessment Tour Suggests Early Ontario Corn Harvest

A crop evaluation tour that started in Chatham-Kent and Essex is moving this week through to Norfolk County and then into the Mitchell area.

Agronomist Dale Cowan says the Great Lakes Grain tour shows corn harvest is likely to be a lot earlier this year.

"Last year at this time we were counting kernels that were in the milk stage and this year we are at full dent, so last year and we are probably only two weeks away from some people harvesting corn while last year we were a month and a half away," he says.

Don Kabbes says the crops are variable depending on whether they got enough or too much rain.

"We did see some softer yields in Essex and that was to be expected so it will be interesting to see what the northern branches bring in," he says.

The results of the tour are considered by farmers as they adjust marketing strategy for their crops.

Don Kabbes says the size of the crop across the province not just across a couple of counties can affect that.

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Agronomist Dale Cowan says the Great Lakes Grain tour shows corn harvest is likely to be a lot earlier this year.

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Dan Kabbes says it looks like getting rain at the right time really helped some crops - and at the wrong time really hurt others.

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Cowan says while the soybeans are starting to dry down, what they've seen on the tour so far suggests they could still improve yield if they get some more rain.

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