LACOMBE, Alta. – Trainloads of American corn likely infested with
fusarium, which has dealt a severe blow to the Manitoba grain and
livestock industry, are arriving in central and northern Alberta to
feed Alberta livestock.
“All farmers are looking for feed grain at the lowest possible price,”
said Blair Rutter, manager of policy development with Agricore United,
which is bringing in five trains of corn to supply feed to Alberta
livestock producers.
A 150-car train will arrive in Lacombe this week, and a 100-car train
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will also arrive in Killam. Three other AU car loads are being brought
to Alberta, said Rutter, but he would not say where they are being
unloaded.
AgPro Grain is also bringing corn trains to Alberta, said Rob
McNaughton, manager of feedgrains and oilseeds with Saskatchewan Wheat
Pool, which owns AgPro. Corn is being unloaded at all six Alberta AgPro
facilities at Killam, Lavoy, Crossfield, Trochu, Vulcan and Wilson
Siding.
The corn, which originates from known fusarium areas of the Dakotas and
Minnesota, is expected to test positive for the fungus.
“We’re going to be handling it on the assumption it has some level of
fusarium. That’s why we’re going to take extra precautions to limit the
risk of spread,” said Rutter.
With pressure from local producers, AU has agreed to test the corn as
it is unloaded at Lacombe.
Terry Wagner, a Lacombe pedigreed seed grower and livestock producer,
said he would have preferred that the corn was tested before it arrived
in central Alberta. By knowing the fusarium levels of each car load,
the feed could have been directed to cattle feedlots able to handle
higher levels of fusarium, or to hog producers if fusarium levels were
low.
“When you can jeopardize the business in Alberta for the sake of a $45
test on a car, it’s a pretty minimal cost,” said Wagner.
Rutter said if AU had asked for only guaranteed fusarium-free corn, it
would have substantially increased the cost of the feed.
“We don’t want to see the disease spread but you have to weigh it at
what cost,” he said. “The cost involved in going to a zero tolerance is
not in the best interest of Alberta agriculture.”
Keith Boras, agricultural fieldman for the County of Lacombe, said
Alberta government inaction on a new fusarium policy has placed
responsibility for rejecting the corn onto local municipalities and
counties.
“We fully expected the province to have something in place by this
spring,” said Boras.
This spring, the Alberta government announced it was about to implement
a zero tolerance policy on fusarium-infested grain and seed imported
into the province. That plan was delayed by a debate on whether such a
policy is practical.
“This policy is taking a hell of a lot longer than I would have liked,”
said Shafeek Ali, head of Alberta Agriculture’s pest management unit.
Ali said there is intense lobbying by rural MLAs on both sides of the
issue.
Lacombe, normally an area with high rainfall producing lush grain
crops, has an ideal climate for the spread of fusarium graminearum, a
fungus that can be toxic when fed to livestock.
Hogs have a particularly low tolerance. Cattle can be fed higher levels
of infected grain in carefully managed rations. A recent study suggests
the fungus does not survive when it passes through cattle rumens.
Martin Zuidhof, who operates a 6,500 head feedlot near Lacombe, said
buying the corn has provided him with a secure source of feed.
“The price is sure right on it,” said Zuidhof.
The price of barley ranges from $180 to $185 a tonne, if he can find
it. He’s guaranteed to buy corn at $166 a tonne delivered to the
elevator six kilometres from his farm. Add another $4 a tonne for
delivery to his feedlot, and it’s still cheaper than barley.
In a normal year, it takes 800 to 1,000 acres of grain to fill the
silage pit on Zuidof’s farm. This year he said 2,000 acres of crop
won’t fill the pit.
McNaughton said the decision to bring corn to Alberta is no longer
about economics or disease, but about animal welfare. The corn brought
to northern Alberta will be the only feed available to cattle producers.
“If it’s managed properly, you certainly limit the risk of fusarium
infection,” he said.
