New tool to forecast risk of high concentrations of DON

USDA photo by Lance Cheung.

The Grain Farmers of Ontario are creating a tool to forecast the risk of high concentrations of deoxynivalenol (DON) in corn crops.

The project is being funded by the governments of Canada and Ontario through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

The tool will be designed to help farmers make early, informed decisions about corn crop risks and the use of fungicide or other treatments that reduce the risk of DON.

The repercussions of 2018 high-DON levels in corn are still being felt, says Barry Senft, CEO, Grain Farmers of Ontario. “Farmers would welcome a tool that allows us some forecasting in terms of DON levels and helps us to prepare for any issues and maintain our businesses and the province’s grain corn value chain.”

Supporting the creation of a forecasting tool follows other actions both GFO and the provincial government have taken to support corn farmers through the 2018 corn crop disaster. Other measures include:

  • Creating a tiered corn salvage benefit through Agricorp;
  • Extending the Commodity Loan Guarantee Program loan repayment deadline and maximum guaranteed loan limit, on a pilot basis, from $120 million to $200 million for the 2019 and 2020 program years; and,
  • A cost-share program through CAP for testing for DON in corn.

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