News Corn
What Bt corn products and traits are available in Canada for 2019

Corn growers now have a resource of all the Bt corn products and traits available in Canada as of May 2019.

Tracey Baute, field crop entomologist with Ontario’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), has put together a resource that lists a product’s trade name, its transgenic trait, what target insects it provides protection against and its herbicide tolerance. The Bt corn products/traits table can be viewed online.

For corn growers in Ontario who suffered high deoxynivalenol (DON) levels in last season’s corn crop, a column of interest would be which products provide protection against western bean cutworm (WBC). Research out of the University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus points to the links between Fusarium infection, DON accumulation and western bean cutworm damage. The recently published study suggests that WBC can exacerbate Fusarium infection and as a result, DON concentrations in corn.

For upcoming corn season in Ontario, OMAFRA’s field crop team reaffirms its general recommendations. “Unless you were really pushing the window on maturity in your pre-season selections, the general recommendation is to stay with an adapted hybrid until May 15-20th in shorter heat unit areas of the province (<2,800 CHU), or to the end of May in the longest heat unit areas (>3,200 CHU),” the team writes in the latest crop report. Despite wet conditions in Ontario, corn growers are encouraged to make sure they are planting into “fit soil” with a proper and consistent planting depth into moisture. OMAFRA’s field crop team suggests a good starting target is 1.5 – 2 inches because one inch is often too shallow. Uniform planting depth into moisture ensures uniform emergence which makes for more uniform growth staging throughout the season. The correct depth ensures plants are well anchored and located for rapid, uniform emergence and season long standability.