Promising corn harvest compromised by mould
ONTARIO’S AGRICULTURAL INSURANCE ORGANIZATION, Agricorp, has received 1,300 calls reporting mouldy corn. It’s turning into a huge problem for farmers and has many on edge.
The mould is Gibberella ear rot, which can produce a mycotoxin called Deoxynivalenol (DON). At low levels it’s not considered toxic to livestock. But about one-quarter of this year’s corn harvest – which was predicted to be a record for yield – is coming in at levels much higher. In many cases, elevators won’t accept it because it can’t be used by end users.
Besides making livestock producers nervous, concerned about the price
and availability of feed, DON is leaving corn producers anxious about if and how they’ll sell their crop.
“We are facing one of the most severe outbreaks of DON in corn that we have ever seen,” says Grain Farmers of Ontario chair Markus Haerle, a producer from eastern Ontario. “We consider this issue at a catastrophic level at this point and it is only getting worse. We have made this issue our top priority.”
Haerle says the fallout from the toxin is creating huge questions in the farm community about cash flow and revenue loss, markets, crop insurance and testing protocols.
Marie Versteeg, manager of the executive board and committees for the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario, says DON’s severity is being felt across the entire farm sector.
“In Ontario, it means that this year, Ontario’s farmers, processors, and insurers aren’t seeing many positives, although yields generally have been good and not all crops are affected by DON,” she says.
Indeed, crops were doing well through September and October, and yields were promising. Rain came at the right time … but ultimately, dampness prevailed.
And it’s that dampness that contributes to mouldy conditions, says Dale Cowan, senior agronomist wth AGRIS and Wanstead co-ops.
Agronomically, dampness is measured in hours of leaf wetness, the amount of time corn plant leaves under the canopy are damp. Elongated wetness due to excessive fog, dew and precipitation creates an environment for mould growth, he explains.
Ontario is the most affected province. But a cross-Canada survey by Alltech’s mycotoxin management team showed that while corn silage from Alberta and Saskatchewan had levels of mycotoxins lower than Ontario and British Columbia, the two prairie provinces had increased risk from mycotoxins in barley silage.
Ontario is now trying to determine how to manage DON-infected harvested corn. Research is underway with ethanol producers to determine if it can ultimately be used for ethanol processing. Industry officials are unsure the distillers dry grains that are a by-product of ethanol production will be usable for animal feed.
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture is concerned about how this outbreak could affect producers’ physical health. In his weekly bulletin, president Keith Currie urges producers to be safe when handling DON-infected corn. “Inhaling the fungi-derived poison can have serious health implications, restricting airways and proper lung function,” he says.
Currie says to prevent exposure, use protective gloves and eye protection, wear a mask and only work in well-ventilated areas. The greatest risks of exposure can occur in semi-enclosed places like grain bins and the areas around operating combines and loading wagons.
Agronomist Cowan says the most effective offence against these toxins is a good defence. It’s too late for this growing season, but for next year he suggests approaches such as multiple hybrids in each field, and uniform planting depth for uniform emergence.
“Stakeholders need to get together to develop a better risk management strategy to reduce incidence and severity of ear molds establishing in the first place, and later, escalating,” he notes.