  This August 15, 16 and 17 the Great Lakes Grain “We know markets” Crop Assessment Tour 2012 was held. We completed prelude assessments in the north area around Barrie and Alliston and also conduct the same in Essex and south Kent areas. We then met as a group in London Thursday morning for our official kickoff. In total including the prelude tours we will have 32 yield checks on corn and soybeans. We had approximately 44 crop sales specialist from the AGRIS, Wanstead Farmers’ and FS PARTNERS Co-operatives participating. This was a great team building, training and crop scouting opportunity. There is a huge logistical effort behind the scenes to make this run smoothly, transportation, hotel, food, and most important our co-operators who have agreed to let us on their farms and report our findings. This year we have a single sponsor, DEKALB we recognize and thank them for their support on this important and valuable opportunity to share with the our member owners and agriculture at large in Ontario the status of the 2012 corn and soybean crop in the southwest.  “This year’s tour holds particular interest due to weather related stresses. We anticipate a wide range in observed crop stresses and yield levels across the region. Numerous insect and weather related plant diseases are likely to be encountered. It will make for an interesting crop tour to challenge the participants on agronomic knowledge and provide many in field classroom opportunities to sharpen our diagnostic skills ” - Dale Cowan CCA-ON - senior agronomist, sales manager - Southern Co-operative Services Read the final crop assessment tour report |
