‘Hot and dry weather is a good thing’, farmers comment on ‘drought-like’ May
It's likely not the optimistic tone many people might expect to hear, after days of high temperatures and constant sunshine.
"We've actually had almost a drought in May. A drought in May, in Ontario, you could not ask for anything better," said Peter Johnson.
Johnson is an agronomist who hosts a weekly podcast called Wheat Pete’s Word, "So far, it's just going gangbusters and hopefully we keep doing that."
Springfield-area farmer Greg Fentie said moisture from the winter and some good rains early in the spring were key, "As long as the seed was planted in moisture, a little bit of hot weather and dry weather is a good thing."
Johnson and Fentie said many crops, including soybeans and corn, are like people; for them, a little bit of stress is actually a good thing.
"This dry weather will allow those roots to penetrate further down into the ground,” said Fentie. “Scavenge more moisture, scavenge more nutrients, and actually set the crop up better later on in the season."
There are variables though. High spots will loose moisture faster, soil that has more sand or clay needs more rain, and grain crops need more water.
Agronomist and podcaster Peter Johnson inspected a field near Lucan, Ont. on June 1, 2023. (Gerry Dewan/CTV News London)
"They need rain quite badly, if they can get it,” said Johnson. “They're surviving on subsoil moisture."
Fentie said the rain also helps with the fertilizing process.
With fertilizer prices still high, farmers want to get the best bang for their buck.
"That fertilizer pellet doesn't just hop over into the plant. It needs a little bit of moisture to carry it there. We need some moisture to fill that grain head out," said Fentie.
Johnson said farmers have long relied on each other for ideas on how to deal with issues like drought stress, disease, and pests. He said doing the podcast and interacting on social media has only amplified that experience.
Springfield-area farmer Greg Fentie checked the moisture depth on June 1, 2023, to see how far down corn seeds need to go. (Gerry Dewan/CTV News London)
"It's like a coffee shop on steroids,” he said. The sharing of ideas and solutions now operates on a global scale, "I get questions from Texas, from South Africa, from Australia. It's a global reach and it shows you how big that coffee shop has become."
Johnson and Fentie said strides have been made to develop more drought tolerant corn.
Johnson said work is now being done on more drought tolerant wheat as well.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.