While corn yields are quite good across much of Ontario, the level of DON — a mycotoxin produced by gibberella infection — in some of the tonnage coming off fields is just too high to easily market the grain.
There’s been much frustration over testing procedures at the elevator, questions on crop insurance, and conflicting information on whether or not to harvest, wait, or store the crop. Last week, farmers got some clarity on the crop insurance issue, with Agricorp announcing a $0.75/bu salvage value on corn at over 5 ppm, but there’s still a lot of work to be done to find a home for all this corn.
Barry Senft, CEO of Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO), says the producer organization is launching a multi-pronged approach to dealing with this crop, including buying temporary crop storage equipment, funding research in to testing protocols, and finding end-use markets for this corn crop.
Western Canadian demand could be one partial solution to the problem, Senft says, as the organization and greater corn industry is exploring any and all marketing opportunities for the crop. In the interview below, RealAg radio host, Shaun Haney and Senft discuss all the ways GFO is working to address the issue, including perhaps shipping some corn west. (Barry Senft can be reached at [email protected] or 519-831-0194).
Related:
- GFO to buy grain bagging equipment for 2018 corn crop
- Minister Hardeman says “take the good corn off first”
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