A director with the Lambton Federation of Agriculture says a lack of summer rainfall resulted in lower bean yields.
Brian Eves, who farms in southern Lambton County, said the effect from a dry summer was noticeable during harvest.
"The majority of the soybean harvest is complete, and the same with other dry beans, corn harvest has now begun, but that's just in the early stages," said Eves.
"In general the yields are average to below average. It very much depends on the area. Some areas received rain in July and August, and areas that did receive appropriate amounts of rain, got very good yields."
On the other hand, Eves said multiple areas of Lambton County, including south Lambton, received very little rain and the yields are very poor.
"Last fall at this time, it was very, very, wet. Everything was wet. This spring started out wet and even into mid-May was wet, but then as the calendar turned to June that moisture dried up and a lot of areas received virtually [no precipitation] into early August, which got a bit and right up until now we've received very little."
Eves said low yields can have a dramatic effect on your operation.
"In most cases, farmers will depend on a particular amount of yield to simply pay their bills. Everything from those input costs, to your mortgages, to potential machinery costs. In many cases we have crop insurance that will help you cover some of those costs, but that's not universal, that's a cost in itself and many farmers do not buy crop insurance."
Eves said farmers are resilient and often plan a diversification of crops to cope with low yields.
For instance, he said wheat crops earlier this year were above average.
In addition to coping with low yields, Eves said farmers are struggling with carbon tax increases.
"Depending on what you use it for, it can literally add tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of doing business, that we as farmers have no way to compensate for."
He's encouraging people to question their MPs and MPPs about why the carbon tax is necessary and why fuel taxes are as high as they are.
Area farmers are also preparing for Sollio Agriculture to close six active Ontario Grain L.P. locations, two of which are in Lambton County.
The company said it will continue to serve customers this harvest season at a reduced capacity.
The Executive Director of Ontario’s Federation of Agriculture (OFA) spoke to Sarnia News Today last month when the harvest started.
Crispin Colvin reminded motorists to be patient when they see farm equipment on the roads.
