Farm & Market Report: Corn harvest jumps to 24%, Keady calves sell steady, DON survey is out

Dry, mild weather has put combines in the corn this week, and Ontario's corn harvest jumped from 5 to 24 per cent in seven days. At Keady, a good run of local presorted calves sold steady, and the province's annual corn mycotoxin survey is out with slightly more DON than usual.

At the sale barn: cattle

"A good offering of local, vaccinated presorted calves sold steady" at Keady Livestock Market's Tuesday sale on Oct. 27, according to the market's sale report published by Beef Farmers of Ontario on Oct. 28. Prices below are averages in dollars per hundredweight (100 pounds), the basis Beef Farmers of Ontario uses for all its auction reports. Divide by 100 for the price per pound.

• Steers, 600 to 699 lb: the busiest steer class, 221 head, averaged $611.53; most sold between $575 and $648.
• Steers, 500 to 599 lb: 124 head averaged $669.45; most sold between $617.50 and $712.50.
• Steers, 700 to 799 lb: 129 head averaged $552.38, compared with $536.97 for that class at the Oct. 20 sale.
• Other steers: 61 head of 400 to 499 lb averaged $771.81, and 54 head of 800 to 899 lb averaged $496.68.
• Heifers, 600 to 699 lb: the busiest heifer class, 153 head, averaged $520.35; most sold between $480 and $540.
• Other heifers: 128 head of 500 to 599 lb averaged $566.73, and 88 head of 700 to 799 lb averaged $459.13.

The Oct. 27 report lists stocker steers and heifers only. Classes with fewer than 10 head are left out here.

Keady also held a stocker sale on Saturday, Oct. 24, reported by Beef Farmers of Ontario on Oct. 26. It was mostly calves under 800 lb. The busiest classes were 224 steers of 500 to 599 lb, which averaged $688.55 (most between $651 and $725), and 210 steers of 600 to 699 lb at $609.51. Heifers of 500 to 599 lb, 153 head, averaged $571.17. That report has no summary of how the market traded.

At the sale barn: lambs

Ontario Sheep Farmers had not posted a Keady lamb report for the Oct. 27 sale when we checked Thursday morning. The latest is still the Oct. 20 sale, which ran in last week's report.

Grain

Grain Farmers of Ontario has not posted a new market trends report since Oct. 13, so there are no new grain prices from it this week. That report's figures, as of Oct. 9, ran in last week's edition.

In the field

Ontario's corn harvest was 24 per cent done as of Wednesday, Oct. 28, up from 5 per cent a week earlier, according to Grain Farmers of Ontario's weekly Field Progress estimate, as reported in its Ontario Grain Farmer magazine on Oct. 29. "Incredible weather has allowed near-continuous harvesting," the magazine says, and harvest moisture now runs from the mid-teens to the high 20s, with "many pleasantly surprised by lower harvest moisture." Soybean harvest reached 95 per cent, up from 82. The figures are province-wide.

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness posted its 2026 grain corn ear mould and DON (vomitoxin) survey on its Field Crop News site on Oct. 24. Of 272 ear samples collected across Ontario from Sept. 23 to Oct. 9, 77 per cent tested below 2 parts per million of DON, compared with a 10-year average of 86 per cent. Six per cent tested at 5 ppm or more. The ministry says the results are similar to 2016 and 2023 and well below 2018, the worst year in the past decade, but that growers "should still be vigilant, as they may have individual fields with elevated DON," and should harvest and dry higher-risk fields first.

The ministry's most recent weekly crop report is still dated Sept. 24.

Weather for the week

Environment Canada's forecast for Owen Sound, the closest forecast point to the township, issued at 5 a.m. Friday, calls for a mainly cloudy Friday with a 40 per cent chance of showers through early afternoon, northwest wind gusting to 40 km/h and a high of 10, then a partly cloudy night with fog patches and a low of plus 1. Saturday is mainly sunny with a high of 11, Sunday sunny at 15 and Monday sunny at 16. Tuesday turns cloudy with a 40 per cent chance of showers and a high of 15, Wednesday is cloudy with a 30 per cent chance of showers and a high of 15, and periods of rain are forecast for Wednesday night and Thursday, with a high of 12 on Thursday. Normal for this time of year is a high of 9 and a low of 2. No weather warnings were in effect for the area as of 6 a.m. Friday.

---

Your turn: How far along is your corn, and what moisture are you seeing at the elevator? Email news@chatsworthbanner.ca.