2 Waterloo region farmers look back at challenges and success stories from this year's growing season
'We noticed a lot more issues with mould and fungus on certain crops,' says farmer
From waterlogged onions and astounding peppers to delicious strawberries and enough sweet corn to eat almost every night of the week, two Waterloo region farmers are looking back at the growing season as they head into the 2024 harvest.
Trevor Herrle Braun at Herrle's Country Farm Market on Erbs Road in St. Agatha says the rainy weather brought some challenges with it.
"We noticed a lot more issues with mould and fungus on certain crops and we had to change our spraying programs and apply those fungicides a little bit earlier this year," said Herrle-Braun
"Probably about a good three to four weeks earlier than we normally do. And so that really saved us in the long run, in these fall crops."
Just across the way in St. Agatha on Carmel Koch Road, Angie Koch with Fertile Ground Farms says while she gives the growing season "a pretty high rating on average," there were some problems along the way including dealing with a foliage disease called downy mildew.
As it does every year, the weather played a factor in which fruits and vegetables did well and which were affected negatively.
Locally the farmers said they hoped for precipitation in March and received a lot of it in July and August before it turned dry in September. This meant crops started growing and therefore ended early.
Koch said the rainfall amounts were great but they came at what she describes as funny times.
"We got a lot of rain in the summer months when we're used to having hotter, dryer weather and the crops that grow in the summer don't necessarily like to be drowned," said Koch.
"[But] getting the rain meant that we weren't irrigating and crops. Our greens were really happy. We've never hauled so many peppers. They were late because of the rain and cooler weather in the earlier months."
Fertile Ground is a diversified vegetable farming operation that grows about 40 different crops. Koch and her crew are currently in the process of bringing in their root crops like carrots, beets and rutabaga.
At Herrle's Farm Market, Trevor Herrle noticed the weather patterns were off and the wet and hot spring meant the growing of some crops ended about 10 days to two weeks early.
"September was so warm and you know, we enjoyed that warm weather, that was great for a lot of our later crops. But we did notice that things kind of ended about a week and a half earlier," said Herrle-Braun.
"Like a lot of those melon crops, definitely the Niagara peaches and grapes that ended a little bit earlier than we would have liked to. We would have liked to have gone for about another week, but that stuff really fell off early this year."
Herrle-Braun and his team are harvesting sweet corn and looking at what he described as a beautiful pumpkin crop and squash. As well as some green and yellow beans that would be harvested on a warm fall day.
Keeping an eye on the weather, Angie Koch hopes the winter months lend a hand heading into the 2025 growing season.
"We are hoping this year to get a nice cold spell in the winter," said Koch.
"I know that may not be popular, but last winter was so mild. There were a lot more pests that overwintered and we're just ready to start chomping on the crop in the spring. And so we're hoping for a bit of a killing cold for at least a month or six weeks of the winter."
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