March 23, 2009

The area planted to corn in central Canadian province Ontario in 2009 is expected to be down from last year in response to high input costs as well as reduced profitability.

 

"Fertiliser and chemical costs for corn producers in Ontario have gone up by at least 10-15 percent from last year's level with the cost of the seed also up about 10 percent," said Don Kenny, a regional director for the Ontario Corn Producer's Association.

 

He said the increased costs will likely have caused some producers to consider alternative crops.

 

"There are a lot of producers at this time of year, penciling out costs, researching prices, etc., and finding out that there are some pretty scary scenarios," Kenny said.

 

He said a lot of producers have made decisions for the bulk of their land, but it's probably that last 100 acres that each individual holds for swing purposes that is undecided.

 

"The decision as to what to seed on that land also is determined by how much winterkill the province's winter wheat crop suffers as well," Kenny said.

 

If there is a lot of wheat that was damaged during the winter, it's likely that producer will plow the wheat under and plant either corn or soy, he said.

 

Right now, it's soy as its low input costs is looking attractive compared to corn, Kenny said.

 

Kenny said as a result of the high input costs, he was expecting corn acres in Ontario to be down a bit.

 

The Ontario Corn Producer's Association estimated 2009-10 corn harvested area in the province at 1.7 million acres, which would be down fractionally from the 1.730 million harvested in 2008-09 and well below the 2007-08 level of 2.055 million.

 

"Corn area in Ontario was expected to be down as much as 15 percent from the 2008-09 level or it could hold steady," according to Philip Shaw, a market analyst for the association.

 

A 15-percent drop in seeded area, however, would be hard to imagine as it would mean the least corn acres planted in Ontario in decades, Shaw said.

 

Ontario and Quebec account for roughly 97 percent of Canada's total corn production.