Perhaps a bit more heat in mid-summer could have made a positive difference on some crops, but with local grain farmers harvesting better than 60 bushels to the acre of soybeans, there hasn’t been too much to complain about from an industry that can quibble with just about anything and everything — market prices at the Chicago Board of Trade notwithstanding.

John Nyman of Nyman Farms said even marginal land was producing for him this growing season. He is a third of the way through harvesting 700 acres of Identity Preserved soybeans. His pods are bulging and beautiful.

The Picton-area farmer transitioned from commercial to a non-genetically-modified soybeans a few years ago. IP soybeans are important in southeast Asia for making tofu. Modern herbicide applications such as Round Up are forbidden, making growing IP soybeans tedious in even the most perfect growing conditions. But farmers receive a $4-$5 per bushel premium. Based on this week’s soybean prices of around $12 per bushel, those farmers growing premium food grade beans were getting around $16.

IP Beans grown and harvested by Mr. Nyman are trucked to Beatty Seeds in Bloomfield. From there they are sent by truck to Toronto and loaded onto rail cars. Most are bound for Asian markets and are sent to Vancouver. Some destined for the European market go to Halifax. 

“It was a tremendous year for growing IP beans. We managed to avoid any disease pressure. That can happen quite easily with them so it’s been great,” Mr. Nyman said. “Even on the gravelly land that we consider marginal, we are getting some yields approaching 50 bushel an acre — very close to record highs.”

Across Prince Edward County, producers reported mostly better than average wheat harvests in late July and early August. And Mr. Nyman says the corn crops look pretty sound from the laneway. “You really don’t know until you get into the middle of a field with a combine what you might have, so there’s some excitement that comes with that harvest. But the corn looks really good from the road this year.” 

Fat Grapes

At Sugarbush Vineyards north of Wellington, Sally Peck is eyeing the upcoming forecasts with hopes of one final blast of warm weather. Overall, the 2024 harvest is off to a positive start. But too much rain at critical times during the growing season can lead to plump and juicy fruit with a low sugar content, leading to great volumes of poor quality wine. In 2023, a late shot of high summer heat helped finish off the grape bunches to perfection.

“Right now we are hitting the VQA benchmarks for sugar content, so we are happy about that. We aren’t going to have the bumper crop we had in 2023, and I can’t speak for every County grape grower, but we are happy with where we are at right now in terms of harvest,” she said. “If we got some really nice warm days for late Cabernet Franc and Reisling vines, that would be perfect.”

Ms. Peck added late season moisture leads to producers battling downy and powdery mildews.

“We typically get heavy dew at the end of the season into fall, but this summer we seemed to be getting a lot more heavy fog and dew. When the canopy gets saturated like that and has trouble drying out, it promotes mould — and that can be a major problem.”

There are spray applications that can stunt the growth of mildew and mold, but there is nothing like a few hot days and some summer breezes to do away with them altogether.

If she had to grade the growing season in 2024, Ms. Peck would assign it a B+. “Not quite as hot as we would have liked, maybe a bit too wet, but overall, not bad.”