Teosinte, a wild grass-like plant, is native to Mexico and Central America. It hardly resembles modern-day corn cobs due to its small ears and tough outer covering. This, though, is the plant ancient farmers selected and reselected over thousands of years via natural mutations to give us the present-day distinctive corn varieties. We now have thousands of corn varieties, from sweet corn types and popcorns, to field corn with grain that comes in very many colours from blue and red to black and purple, down to the commonly grown orange, yellow and white grain types.

Corn as we now grow it in its very many types is entirely dependent on plant breeders, farmers and horticulturalists for its propagation. Corn is now the No. 1 food/feed crop grown in the world, passing potatoes, wheat and even rice. Corn is primarily used as an animal feed grain, hay baled or used for silage production. The high-sugar varieties are used for human consumption, whereas field corn is primarily used as animal feed. Corn is processed into starch, corn syrup, oil and feedstock for alcoholic beverages or biofuels.

In Canada, corn is a warm-season crop, growing its best in the hotter areas of Ontario and parts of Quebec with the higher available heat units. Plant breeders have developed more cold-tolerant varieties of corn in the past few decades, allowing it to grow successfully as grain or silage corn, particularly in the warmer areas of the Prairies. Manitoba, in recent years, has grown around a half a million acres of grain corn (498,900 harvested acres in 2024), followed by relatively little in grain corn production in either Saskatchewan or Alberta. Yields of grain corn in Manitoba average over 100 bushels and upward, resulting in 1.8 million metric tonnes annually. Ontario and Quebec are by far the biggest corn growers, with Ontario’s two million to three million acres resulting in 9.5 million tonnes for 60 per cent of Canada’s corn production. Quebec follows with almost a million acres and 3.4 million tonnes of grain.

Corn yields in the U.S., especially under irrigation and high fertility, can frequently yield 200-300 bushels per acre or more. The current record yield for corn, at Charles City, Virginia, is given exactly as 623.8439 bushels per acre. To achieve such a phenomenal yield, the crop is given all of the macro- and micronutrients needed and regularly irrigated. There is no problem with heat units needed for grain maturation in Virginia — but there is one vital limiting factor needed to achieve this yield.

Did you guess? It’s carbon dioxide. In mid-July an excellent stand of corn supplied with a fully adequate supply of crop nutrients (minerals) at midday may be critically short of carbon dioxide. There are only 422 parts per million (p.p.m.) of CO₂ in the atmosphere, up from 250 p.p.m. in past years. On a hot midday, a C4 corn plant in full sun may be well supplied with water and plentiful nutrients but it cannot get enough CO₂ for its sugar formation. The record-yield growers ensure the corn cropland is loaded with masses of crop residues. These crop residues in the warm moist soil are producing huge amounts of CO₂ as a result of the soil microbes feeding on this residue. This CO₂ moves upward into the crop canopy, where it’s captured by the corn leaves. Unlike those of soybeans or wheat, corn’s leaves have the ability to capture and store this extra CO₂. Under good growing conditions, perhaps with a light breeze for distribution, this extra CO₂ may be rapidly converted via photosynthesis into sugar.

Silage corn acres are on the increase on the Prairies, with around 100,000 silage corn acres in both Manitoba and Saskatchewan and more than 600,000 acres in Alberta making up for that province’s very modest grain corn acreage.

Corn, the world’s largest grain crop worldwide, amounts to about 1.2 billion tonnes. Of this amount some 360 million tonnes are produced in the U.S. for a 31 per cent world share. China is second with 260 million, for over 22 per cent of the total corn crop. Brazil, Argentina and Ukraine are major players accounting for a further 17 per cent. Very many other counties grow the remaining millions of tonnes of corn making up the annual total.

In high-production areas, corn is invariably grown as a hybrid. Seed corn is the offspring of two pure lines of corn referred to as inbred parents. Hybrid seed yields more grain than the parent inbred lines — and much better than open-pollinated varieties. Seed from the female (male sterile) parent is harvested for seed, whereas the male pollen rows are destroyed after pollination or harvested separately.

Enemies

Corn, like other Prairie-grown crops, suffers from many diseases and insect pests. The diseases run from the bacterial, such as Stewart’s wilt, to a variety of fungal diseases. Such diseases include common and head smuts, southern and northern leaf blights, stalk rots, ear rots, rusts, anthracnose and downy mildew. Quite the collection!

The most destructive disease of all in Canada is pink or red ear rot, or Gibberella mould. This fungus, Gibberella zeae, can destroy whole grain cobs and can only be stopped after harvest in the grain if it’s dried down to 15 per cent moisture or less, ASAP.

READ MORE: What to do with mouldy corn

One complaint I have is that my fellow plant disease specialists do an excellent job of confusing corn-growing farmers. Pink mould of corn, Gibberella zeae, is the exact same fungus as Fusarium graminearum. Gibberella zeae is just the sexual stage of Fusarium graminearum. So, put another way, pink mould in corn is the exact same fungus that causes fusarium head blight (FHB) in wheat, barley and other small grains.

Whether on corn or other small grains, like wheat, this fungus produces toxins in the grain, such as DON (deoxynivalenol) and a range of other toxins that are extremely destructive to pigs. Any DON, for example, of greater that 0.5 p.p.m. in feed grain is unacceptable as hog feed. Cattle can tolerate levels of up to eight p.p.m.

When I was a plant disease specialist in Ontario, many years ago, a couple of wet summers in Ontario corn acres resulted in major outbreaks of pink mould in the harvested corn. It became a feed disaster for the Ontario hog industry. So, consider that if you grow corn after wheat or vice versa and have a wet summer or fall, be prepared for possible outbreaks of this disease in either crop in such a rotation.

Final thought: “In the course of my life I have often had to eat my words and I must confess that I have always found it a wholesome diet.” – Winston Churchill

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There are lots of new choices for corn growers in Western Canada for the next growing season, with 22 new grain and silage hybrids in the offing from BrettYoung, Corteva’s Pioneer Seeds, Dekalb, DLF Pickseed, Maizex, NorthStar Genetics, Proven Seed and Thunder Seed. The following list includes only brand new offerings for 2024.

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While the foot or more of heavy snow that blanketed much of the province over the Thanksgiving weekend has melted, saturated fields continue to limit corn silage harvests and hay cutting.

“Feed supplies were already a challenge moving into the storm, and the storm definitely won’t help,” said Carson Callum, general manager for Manitoba Beef Producers.

After dealing with drought conditions earlier in the year, many rural municipalities in central and western Manitoba had already declared states of emergency in August due to poor hay crops.

Looking across the province “it’s fairly dire, as far as the amount of feed available,” said John MacGregor, extension support with the Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association.

“We didn’t get a great first cut, and didn’t get much of a second cut,” he added, noting the rains and snow in September and October will limit how much of a final cut comes off.

The ground freezing up would allow producers to get on the field, but alfalfa would lose all of its leaves in that scenario, said MacGregor. There may be some grass they can harvest, but he noted it would be difficult to dry the grass down at this time of year.

“We kept wishing for rain, and now that we have it… ‘Be careful what you wish for,'” said MacGregor.

Corn silage was going to be a saving grace for many producers and make up for the hay shortfall, he said, but the silage harvest has been stalled at about 30 to 40 per cent complete.

Grain corn producers with poor crops may be looking to take some off as silage instead if it looks to be more profitable, but they are facing the same terrible harvest conditions.

Straw from annual crops and stover from the grain corn harvest could also be alternate feed sources, but with the wet fields, MacGregor said grain farmers may not want their fields rutted up any more.

Given the tight feed situation, “we will likely see some herds reduced throughout the province, just because the price of hay is fairly high and the availability of alternative feeds is not as available as guys would like,” said MacGregor.

“It will be a struggle for a lot of guys.”

Callum also expected to see herd downsizing and calves moved to market earlier than usual.

“We’re still assessing the situation, and producers are trying to stay resilient and help out their neighbours as best as they can,” said Callum.

— Phil Franz-Warkentin reports for MarketsFarm, a Glacier FarmMedia division specializing in grain and commodity market analysis and reporting.

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While it’s too early to provide firm yield estimates, Morgan Cott, field agronomist for the Manitoba Corn Growers Association, said some high-moisture corn was already harvested in mid-September, and regular grain corn harvest got underway last week.

“That’s a lot earlier than normal. They estimate about five per cent of it is done so far, with lower yields than we had hoped for.”

“(It) definitely finished a little too early.”

The high heat this summer caused kernel abortions and that is bound to affect the finished yield, she said — although it’s too early to tell the extent of the damage or if weights will be off.

“It looks good on top, but I think it will most likely be that the yield is affected. But it will take some time to find out if it is going to be a little bit light.”

On the positive side, it appears mould will not present a serious issue for most growers.

The crop got off to a good start this year, especially considering dry conditions at seeding. Timely rain boosted the crop along and it was growing well until mid-July. Then the weather turned too hot and too dry and the pollination period was shorter than usual, just at the time when the number of kernels set is largely determined.

“Because the heat was so high, it caused abortion in the kernels so that really, obviously is affecting yield,” said Cott.

Meanwhile, Manitoba growers have completed the harvest of most silage corn. Most growers started to take that off at the beginning of September.

Cott said there is more silage corn than expected because the drought and hay shortage situations in the province prompted more producers to take more corn for silage. However, she said she didn’t have final acreage numbers yet.

Bids for current-crop corn, delivered, were listed at $3.66-$3.92 (US$2.82-$3.02) per bushel in North Dakota. Average highs and lows for the current crop for the year are at US$2.38-$3.63 to bushel, based in North Dakota.

— Terry Fries writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Glacier FarmMedia company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.

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Despite all that corn, Canada remains a net importer. That means there’s plenty of room to grow — particularly in Western Canada, where new genetics have brought profitability. But if everyone jumps on the corn bandwagon, what has to give? Who will grow traditional western Canadian crops, and how will markets react?

Profitability is the name of the game. With canola acres capped at 20 to 22 million, as producers make their crop mix decisions, they’ll look for other methods to increase profitability on other acres. That’s because according to 2011 farm cash receipts, canola and wheat were the most valuable crops in Canada — with corn placing third.

Livestock producers were among the earliest adapters of corn in Western Canada. Corn offers more energy per kernel — and it’s a more efficient feed for the region’s roughly four million beef cow herd and nearly six million head on feed. Grain corn offers versatility too. Ranchers can leave it standing for cattle to graze on in winter months, or silage can be added to feed rations. It offers plenty of benefit to Western Canada’s dairy and hog sectors too.

With new genetics now available, harvesting corn for grain is also a very real option. Dry grain corn will be the largest potential acres for producers and will be used in feedlot rations, human consumption, ethanol or export.

As corn begins to take hold in more acres across the region, producers are expected to replace less profitable crops, such as alfalfa or barley. Corn offers more bang for the buck — and more nutrition value too.

Industry experts estimate there could be up to eight million annual cropped acres of corn down the road. As producers overcome the learning curve that comes with introducing any new crop, infrastructure is expected to keep pace. There are options for equipment solutions, grain bin system expansions and an expanding seed catalogue.

If you’re still uncertain about working corn into your rotation, now might be the time to give it a try. Talk to your seed rep about options for your area, and crunch the numbers to see if, once the learning curve has passed, it’ll make a difference to your operation’s ROI.

Breeanna Kelln is the livestock information manager, Western Canada for DuPont Pioneer.

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As with any practice, there are challenges that need to be met through advances in precision agricultural technologies, but many believe that, one day, mixing hybrids within fields will could become common practice.

Crop stress

According to Dr. Bao-Luo Ma, a crop physiologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre in Ottawa, within every growing season, crops are inevitably exposed to stress, both biotic (stress caused by living creatures like fungus or insects) and abiotic (stress caused by the environment, like cold, heat, crowding, weeds or water or nutrient deficiencies.)

Bao-Luo Ma’s research focuses mainly on corn crop responses to abiotic stress. Theoretically, Bao-Luo Ma sees mixing corn hybrids within a field increasing the diversity and adaptability to both types of stress. “Slightly early or delayed growth stages of one hybrid could help it avoid insect damage, pathogen infestation, effects of drought, flooding, nutrient deficiency, shading, etc. at critical stages of crop development, compared to other hybrids in a mixed-culture or monoculture field,” says Bao-Luo Ma.

“This would result in overall greater grain yields of mixed culture fields than those of the monoculture fields.”

But mixing corn hybrids will not always produce greater yields than would mixing monocultures. “Mixing corn hybrids could often result in the same or even lower yields than monocultures if the conditions weren’t right for mixing cultures or if the wrong hybrids were chosen,” said Bao-Luo Ma.

Bao-Luo Ma advised, first and foremost, knowing your field. Mixing hybrids could be more profitable where there are more differences within the field. “Mixed culture may be more promising in fields with expected large spatial variability, coarse-textured soil, and continuous rain-fed monoculture with a history of higher risk of diseases and insect damages.”

“As well, all hybrids should have high productivity potential with similar plant height, but should have different specific traits.” Some hybrids may be more tolerant to drought, nutrient, crowding or resistant to root or foliar diseases. In a mix, some hybrids may be more suitable for heavy textured soil, have stronger root/stalk strength, or fast dry-down rates — a variety of traits can make mixing hybrids more profitable.

• From Country Guide: Plotting a course for 2014

Precision agriculture

As new hybrids become available, it is important to conduct frequent tests to optimize agronomic measures. Testing small areas in many locations before implementing change over the whole farm is very important.

According to Dr. Jiali Shang, who conducts research in remote sensing at AAFC, since the 1950’s, several studies conducted in the U.S. and Canada to evaluate the potential increase in yields of hybrid mixing have shown little or no yield benefit — but, with advances in precision agricultural technologies, mixing hybrids within fields is receiving more attention. “Under the control of precision farming, we’re able to alter the variables of many factors influencing the crop yield and obtain different yield results,” said Shang.

With precision agriculture, it is important that varying hybrid plantings and seeding rates within a field are in accordance with varying soil conditions and properties. “Precision seeding technology, for example, allows for the planting of ‘defensive hybrids’ and ‘high yielding’ hybrids at varying seeding rates, according to the differences in yield potential across a field,” said Dr. Bao-Luo Ma.

By measuring the yield results of mixing crop hybrids using precision farming technologies, farmers and researchers can know what affects the productivity of mixed crop hybrids and ultimately improve the mix.

“Growers should pay attention to kernel shape and maturity of the selected hybrids for mixing culture,” said Bao-Luo Ma. “Planter setting of seeding rates for round shape kernel is different from that of long grain shape hybrids at the same seeding rates.

“Keep in mind that if the difference in anthesis (flower blooming time) or physiological maturity between hybrids in the field is five days or more, kernel moisture content in the mixing could be exceeding the desirable range (below 20 per cent) for combine harvest. This could influence the quality of kernels (broken kernels) and cost of drying.”

More improvements of corn hybrids and the development of agri-technology will help improve productivity, reduce production costs and increase environmental sustainability.

Mixing in Manitoba

Morgan Cott, field agronomist with the Manitoba Corn Growers Association at Carman, Man., is not aware of any farmers in Manitoba who mix hybrids — besides those planting both Bt and non-Bt varieties (which help combat European Corn Borer infestations).

“Mixing varieties would get really tricky, as many have different points of maturity,” said Cott. “Even if you have two varieties with the same specification for corn heat units required, they may not ripen evenly.” This could be especially true for farmers using hybrids from different companies.

Cott advises farmers not to mix varieties that need different heat units, due to the risk of varying maturity.

“At planting, if you have different varieties of different CHUs or not, you may have different types of seed — round versus flat,” says Cott. “At pollination, different varieties may pollinate at different times. At harvest, you’ll find the biggest struggle. A producer following this practice will have to wait until the later variety matures. If he begins harvest when the early variety finishes, the later variety will be too wet and he’ll run into higher drying times and costs.

Assuming the two varieties are the same maturity, there will still likely be different moistures at the same time of harvest. It all depends on the hybrids chosen and how fast/slow they each dry down.”

According to Cott, much work is still needed to improve corn on the Canadian prairies, by way of shortening their maturity times while increasing yields in these varieties.

“We’re extremely lucky here, in Manitoba, to be able to take advantage of all of the advances in corn in the recent past — enabling us to grow a successful crop in the Red River Valley and surrounding areas, pushing outwards in all directions. It won’t be long before you should be able to grow a grain corn crop in southern Manitoba and not run the risk of it being frozen before maturity.”

In 2012, Manitoba had 273,000 acres of grain corn and 75,000 acres of silage corn. In 2013, provincial corn acreage increased to about 342,000 acres of grain corn and 86,000 acres of silage corn. The majority of harvested grain corn is sold to Minnedosa’s Husky Energy plant for ethanol and feed.

This article first appeared in the March 11 issue of Grainews.

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