Grain Farmers of Ontario plans to purchase grain baggers to assist in “short term storage of corn for farmer-members.”
The producer organization, representing Ontario’s 28,000 barley, corn, oat, soybean and wheat farmers, met with Ernie Hardeman, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, late last week to address the high DON corn crisis in Ontario.
At the meeting, Grain Farmers of Ontario proposed ideas to help alleviate farmer-member concerns around testing protocols, cash flow, storage of corn and harvest bottlenecks, new markets for high DON corn, and support for on-farm testing and technology.
As part of that, GFO announced plans to purchase baggers and deploy them to commercial elevators that have the capacity for weighing, drying, and storing grain bags on property in close proximity
Today, Grain Farmers of Ontario announced a call for proposals seeking out interested grain companies or independent grain operators to cooperate in what Grain Farmers of Ontario considers a pilot project on the storage of this year’s corn crop.
GFO is looking for a response by the end of the work day Wednesday, November 21, 2018, and those looking to submit a proposal are asked to contact Barry Senft, CEO, Grain Farmers of Ontario, at [email protected] or 519-831-0194.
GFO says it also plans to address other issues through:
Testing: The Grain Farmers of Ontario approved a $100,000 investment to assist in “improving the accuracy and consistency of the corn testing process.” This project is expected to start producing results in the next two weeks.
New Markets: Grain Farmers of Ontario is proposing a high DON corn market mission to Western Canada and to parts of the U.S. to explore new markets in the cattle feed industry. Grain Farmers of Ontario is also committing to a market development task force to seek out these new markets. This is in addition to work already underway with ethanol companies to process high DON corn.
On-Farm Testing: Grain Farmers of Ontario plans to explore bringing on-farm testers to farmer-members, and expediting the delivery of back-ordered corn screens for cleaners to Ontario.
Grain Farmers of Ontario is also initiating mental health programs for farmer-members as they deal with mounting stress, and it is working with industry organizations like IGPC to find new ways to market the high DON corn with reasonable discounts that will allow the industry to continue.