Basic HTML Version
OWN IN FEEDLOT ALLEY, CORN IS SOLID.
It produces well and it feeds a lot of cattle. Inevitably,
the question comes up, “Could there be another
opportunity—the opportunity to grow far more acres using new
grain corn varieties developed for the western Prairies?”
“We are definitely dabbling in the bottom of the corn maturity
heat units just to make grain. If we get a real good year, like last
year, that will help out,” said Adrian Moens, seed supplier and
owner of AJM Seeds in Coalhurst.
Moens has been selling corn for almost 18 years. Today,
he’s the Pioneer Hi-Bred sales representative for an area along
Highway 3 between Picture Butte and Coaldale. His roots in the
industry stretch north to Edmonton.
In Alberta’s fodder business, barley is still No. 1, but corn
has become a challenger as a silage source. Some of Moens’
customers “grow 100 per cent corn because they get more
tonnes per acre,” he explained. “Today, there are more and
more feedlots going to corn. It’s been proven in this area.”
According to Moens, corn companies started carving a
niche into the feed cereals market in Alberta about 20 years
ago when Roundup Ready lines were introduced. At first, it
had to do with rotation, providing an alternative to barley.
Growers could clean up their fields and get rid of diseases by
moving to silage corn.
Today, silage corn is grown at Red Deer and Lacombe as an
alternative to barley or feed wheat. It’s very popular with dairies.
“Barley traditionally produces 10 to 11 tonnes per acre, where
corn averages 16 to 18 tonnes per acre, and it’s a better feed,”
Moens said.
Silage, however, is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes
to corn’s potential. In the warmer and wetter Corn Belt of
southwestern Ontario and the American Midwest, corn is king.
Millions of acres of corn are planted annually for feed grain, for
ethanol and for human consumption.
According to Statistics Canada, the four western provinces
planted 635,000 acres of grain and fodder corn in 2013, in
total. That was equivalent to about 1.3 percent of the wheat and
canola acres.
That’s admittedly small in the big picture, and even smaller
if the fodder corn numbers are removed. Only two Western
Spring
2014
Grains
West
20
KING
CORN
Corn acres are on the rise—but what about soybeans?
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY JON DIETZ
Feature
D