PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man. — Prairie farmers now grow grain corn where their parents could grow only silage corn. They grow silage corn where their parents could grow only alfalfa.
Might the next generation of prairie farmers grow grain corn as a normal part of their rotations, regardless of locations? Can the new generation corn belt continue pushing northwest toward the tree line and up into the Peace River?
The answer to both questions would be a resounding yes, according to Blaine Calkins of DuPont Pioneer. In an interview at the Pioneer Corn Planter Clinic in Portage la Prairie, Calkins said corn will no longer be limited to traditional areas.
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“Pioneer will have corn right up to the northern Peace Country, High Level and Fort Vermillion. Virtually any and all agricultural areas right across western Canada,” Calkins said.
“We’ve worked out that there are opportunities for corn on probably 10 million acres across Western Canada, and we have the possibility of grain corn in most of those areas, depending on local pockets, the land and the heat units in each pocket.”
Calkins said prairie farmers now plant 700,000 corn acres, and the million acre mark is just around the corner. The company is breeding for both the grain and silage markets.
“Once we get out to a three or five year time frame, we’ll start to see millions of corn acres across Western Canada,” he said.
“We’re not only working on lower heat units and shorter seasons. We’re also working on frost tolerance on the front end in the spring and frost tolerance at the back end in the fall.”
