Ontario agriculture minister to talk pink corn mould with industry leaders

Perth County farmer Joanne Foster says she'll be watching her budget closely this winter, after an outbreak of the pink mould, vomitoxin left her uncertain about what her fall corn harvest will be worth.

"It's a potential loss of income... None of us really know for sure what's gonna happen," said Foster, whose crop samples have so far yielded mixed levels of the mould.

Foster's anxiety is familiar toEssex County farmerRay Simard, who sayssome corn has beenaccepted at the grain elevators, while other husks have been rejected for being too mouldy.

"It's kind of on a pins and needles type situation, wondering, 'Are the loads gonna pass or be rejected when you ship 'em?'" said Simard.

Farmers like Foster and Simard will be top of mind today as Ontario's Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairsmeets with members of industry in Torontoto discuss possible solutions to the outbreak, which has so far beenmainly concentrated in southwestern Ontario.

Agriculture minister ErnieHardemanwas unavailable for an interview Wednesday, but said in an email statement that this season'svomitoxinlevels are "concerning" and that the meeting will discuss possible solutions.

The distinctively pink mouldis the result of wet growing conditions this summer and fall, according to Ontario Federation of Agriculture president Keith Currie. It's a particular disappointment given that this year's corn yields have beenstrong, leaving many farmers with a bountiful harvest of corn and nothing to do with it.

Corn forlivestock feed can only contain very small amountsof vomitoxin, and Currie said this year's levels are "tremendously" higher than what's considered acceptable.

And while ethanol can still be safely made from corn with vomitoxin, Currie saidthe process of ethanol production doesn't kill the mould, andleaves contaminated distiller's grain left over.

Former canola farmer andNDPDeputy Leader JohnVanthofadded his two cents to the conversation Tuesday, calling on the province to develop a clear plan for dealing with the unmarketable crops as soon as possible.

"This isn't something that farmers have a lot of time to handle, because as the crop comes off the field you need to deal with contaminated crop," said Vanthofin an interview with CBC News."You can't mix it with other crop, if the elevator refuses truckloads of grain you need to deal with them right away."

The plan so far

To date, about 1,400 producers have reported damages from vomitoxin to Agricorp, the provincial crown corporation that oversees crop insurance.

Agricorp announced Wednesday it would offer producers a "corn salvage" benefit of 79 cents a bushel for crops with vomitoxinlevels overfive parts per million.

"The benefit is designed to help producers cover costs to harvest and then market, use as feed or find an alternative use for damaged corn," Agricorp said in an online news release.

But MarkusHaerle, chair of the grain farmers of Ontario,said the government may need to step in to a greater degree to compensate for farmers' losses.

"The farmers need to cover some of their expenses that they're accruing at the moment by harvest," saidHaerle, who will attend today's meeting.

"Every time you turn the key on a machine you're burning fuel, you're paying employees and those shortfalls you can only cover when you sell crop."

One possible solution, he said,could see the province tapping into AgriRecovery, afederal-provincial-territorial program that helpsproducers deal with the income and production losses from natural disasters, including diseases and pests.

Meanwhile, farmers like Joanne Foster are keeping a close eye on their budgets as they await further information.

"Financially we'd like to know where we're at, if someone's going to make up the difference for what we're going to lose," she said.