Earlier maturing corn varieties could benefit Ontario growers

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

by SUSAN MANN

Western Canada could become a corn-growing powerhouse in 12 years thanks to a Monsanto Canada project designed to develop earlier maturing varieties, and it may lead to increased seed production for Ontario.

Al Mussell, George Morris Centre senior research associate, says Ontario has an infrastructure in place to grow seed corn, particularly “for those low heat-unit varieties,” and notes this might lead to an opportunity for Ontario farmers to grow seeds for the region.

Monsanto Canada is spending $100 million over the next 10 years to develop corn hybrids with earlier relative maturities as part of a venture called the Canada Corn Expansion Project. Currently most corn in Western Canada is grown in southern Manitoba on about 300,000 to 500,000 acres, but the project could result in an estimated annual Western corn market of eight to 10 million acres by 2025 with corn also being grown in Saskatchewan and Alberta.

In comparison, Ontario farmers grow about two million acres of corn annually.

Mussell says expanding the acreage to eight to 10 million acres in the West is a significant increase “but I don’t know if it’s material in terms of overall weighing in on the corn market.”

He doubts if that added production would “materially influence the corn price.” I don’t know if I am seeing a lot of direct impact” for Ontario.

The far greater impact of the increased corn acres will be on Western Canada with the corn displacing a combination of wheat, grains and canola there, he notes. The burgeoning corn acreage could also lead to increased land rents and values. It could also result in a solid feed grain market in Western Canada, which is something the region is lacking.

John Cowan, vice president of strategic development for Grain Farmers of Ontario, says “we believe the world corn market will continue to grow,” and he doesn’t see the increased acres for Western Canada as “any kind of a problem.”

Mike Nailor, Monsanto corn and soybean lead for Canada, says their work involves selecting hybrids that mature earlier than current hybrids. Farmers in Saskatchewan and other prairie provinces can’t grow corn now because the crop just doesn’t mature in time. The project is about “getting that base maturity lower.”

Monsanto is developing hybrids that will be fully mature in 70 days. Nailor says in comparison, in the Woodstock area of Ontario corn matures in 100 days while in southern Manitoba it’s 76 to 80 days.

The longer growing period brings higher yields, he says.

With corn that matures in 70 days there will be fewer growing days “so you’re not going to get the kinds of yields that farmers get in Ontario, initially,” he notes. Monsanto is targeting 100 to 110 bushels per acre for its early maturing variety. Ontario farmers average 150 to160 bushels per acre.

Monsanto decided to pursue the corn expansion project because Western farmers requested a different crop than the ones they’re currently growing, such as canola, wheat barley and alfalfa. “They wanted a crop that would bring them more profitability,” he says.

The project began several years ago when Monsanto started earmarking part of its corn-breeding budget in London to focus on breeding earlier maturing corn hybrids. Monsanto currently has hybrids that mature in 72 to 74 days and they’re now undergoing field-testing.

Nailor agrees with Cowan that increasing Western corn acres won’t displace Ontario-grown corn because “the global demand for corn has been rising based on increasing populations and changing diets.”

Cowan says markets are fluid and growers will plant corn if market signals are favourable but “if they (market signals) tell him not to or to plant a different crop he’ll do that as well.”

Monsanto’s announcement is good news, he adds, because the fall-out from some of the research could be very beneficial to farmers in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. “We’re happy to see investment in research in Canada.”

The early genetics Monsanto is working to develop could also be used by Ontario farmers in the north. There could also be other agronomic information from the project “that we gain that we’d be able to use in all corn-growing regions,” Cowan notes. BF