What’s Growing ON in that field: summer

One question we get asked a lot is how to tell what crops are growing in Ontario’s fields. Depending on the time of year, this can be a difficult thing to determine, even for a trained eye. It can also be tricky to answer this question as farmers will plant different things on their farm – no farm is the same! So, the way grains are planted, where the farms are in their yearly crop rotations, if they are growing things other than barley, corn, oats, soybeans and wheat, and even what type of the specific grain they are growing (Farmers will plant varieties of grain types depending on their soil type and goals of growing that crop. So, two neighbouring farms may both plant wheat at the same time, but if they each chose a different variety of wheat, they plant growing in the field may look slightly different) can all impact how to visually understand what is growing in the fields.

Another thing to note, summer is peak growing season for Ontario grains. Ontario’s grain fields will go through a lot of changes during the summer, so the plants are growing (and changing their appearance) fast during this time of year. They are growing upwards, outwards, changing colours and developing additional plant parts that are needed to develop seeds. Farmers are often out in the fields checking their growth and staying on top of any potential health concerns because these grain crops are growing and developing so quickly.

So, we’re going to try to break things down and give you a high-level overview of what the grain crops in Ontario look like during the summer. Keep reading for some tips and tricks to help identify grains!

Barley

In the summer, barley grows to be about a meter high! As the plant reaches maturity or is fully grown in mid summer, it starts to turn golden brown colour. This means it is close to be ready for harvest. Barley is harvested late in the summer months.

It can also look a lot like a field of grass or hay. There are few ways to tell the difference: is it green in late summer or tuning a golden, yellow colour? If a golden colour than it is likely barley – or another cereal grain like wheat. The reason to point this is out is that, unfortunately, barley and wheat look very similar and can be hard to tell apart at this point in the growing season. The trick is that barley has something called ‘awns’ which are these long, hair or bristle like pieces that stick out of the top of the plant where the seeds grow. So, if the field looks like its kind of fluffy (like velvet) it is probably barley.

Another way to tell is asking yourself, are the plants growing in straight rows? Can you see rows going up the field? Grain crops are planted in straight rows whereas grass and hay plants tend to grow over and around each other, and you can’t visually see the rows from far away.

Corn

Over the course of the summer, corn will grow very tall. By the end of summer (weather dependent) corn can reach heights of 9 feet or even taller! During this growing season, corn will grow tall and start to produce yellowish spikes at the top called tassels, which helps the plants self-pollinate to produce a large cob of corn. Did you know, grain corn will only produce one cob of corn per plant?

Also, another way to tell what grain is growing this summer, is that grain corn is not harvested in the summer – so those corn cobs you see at the grocery store in the summer? That is sweet corn. To learn more about the different types of corn, read our blog post here! Grain corn will be harvested in the fall.

Oats

Similar to barley, oats mature in the summer and are ready to be harvested! They also start green and as the plant starts to mature, fields will turn a golden yellow/brown colour. Like barley and wheat, the plants are grown very close together and have similar plant parts to barley and wheat. But, oats seeds (found at the top part of the plant) hang down and over the plant to create a slightly different visual than barley or wheat.

Soybeans

In the early summer, soybeans look like rows of a bush, but over the summer the plant will grow big enough to cover the spaces between the rows, covering the ground. Soybeans have a distinct difference from the other grains – their leaves are more oval vs a long and skinny grass looking leaf, like an ash or walnut tree leaf. Soybean plants will also produce white or purple flowers during the summer as part of their reproduction growth. In fact, the flowers are the beginning of soybean pods developing. Each soybean plant produces enough pods to grow about 150 seeds. Late summer soybean plants may start to change colour from a rich green, to a yellow colour. This is the soybean plant maturing and preparing for cooler fall temperatures.

Wheat

Similar to barley and oats, wheat grows to about 3 feet tall and produces seeds at the top of the plant. In the summer, another key difference between wheat and grass or hay, is that wheat will turn a golden-brown colour. Wheat is generally planted either in the fall (the year before) or in the spring and will be harvested in mid to late summer. Fun fact! Another visual tell when the plant is mature and ready for harvest, is that the wheat “heads” or the top of the plant where the seeds are grown, will start to droop or tilt sideways or toward the ground.

Other things you might see in Ontario:

Here are some other crops that can be grown in Ontario that you might see in fields this summer!