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Home My WebLink AboutHuron Expositor, 2004-09-08, Page 11SCHOONDERWOERD BROS. CONCRETE Flatwork and Forming All types of: • Foundations • Walls • Driveways, patios • Floors. floating slabs • Interior/exterior coloured and stamped designs Ph: 348-0530 Fax: 348-4819 Cell: 301-1392 News THE HURON EXPOSITOR, $spt. S, 200411 Open -pollinated corn lets Dublin farmer work with nature By Susan Hundertmark Expositor Editor While the hybrid corn on his farm might not make it this year because of the excessive rain and cold weather this summer, Victor Kucyk , of RR 1 Dublin, is looking at the silver lining. Some of the 100 varieties of open -pollinated corn he also grows will learn how to adapt to similar weather conditions and be able to thrive if a similar growing season happens again. "Open -pollinated corn remembers what happened to it. The silver lining is that it will pass the information on to the next generation," he said at a recent tour of his operation by the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario. "1 can make five years' worth of progress in a poor year because it's easier to see the better corn. That's how nature is working with me." A former seed company employee, Kucyk began his own company after becoming intrigued by open -pollinated com. "We have to thank the indigenous people who provided us with corn and rice. Without that, we'd be in trouble. This is 100 to 150 -year-old com but it goes back for millennia. It's been grown by indigenous �e for millions of years. It's a living legacy from the past," he said. Kucyk said he's one of about a dozen people in North America who is trying to maintain and develop open - pollinated corn. "We've lost 90 per cent of the genetic diversity out there and we're doubling up here as a seed bank. We're trying to draw the best of the best of the different populations out there," he said. Hybrid corn, which began being developed in the 1900s and was put on the commercial market in the 1930s, creates a single population of corn which can be devastated by disease. Kucyk said open -pollinated corn is more likely to have resistance to disease and be more adaptable to different weather conditions. "This corn can take frost from 1 degree to -4 degrees Celsius at both ends of the season," he said, explaining that a higher sugar and nutrient content allows the plant to tolerate more stress. Kucyk has been gathering corn varieties from across North America to plant on his faun. "You don't expect corn to do well right away if you bring it from 1,000 miles away. It spends maybe two to three years adapting," he said. He is also selling seed to farms across Canada and the United States as far north as Alaska. "We'll have to see how it's going in Fairbanks, Alaska but they've had more heat than we have this year," he laughed. Kucyk said open -pollinated corn is not a crop for cash cropping since it will not match the yield of hybrid com. He recommended growing open -pollinated corn at 18,000 to 20,000 plants per acre, compared to the 25,000 per acre that hybrid corn can be grown. "This corn can tolerate a lot of weed population but it can't tolerate itself at too close quarters," he said, adding that open -pollinated com has larger leaves than hybrid corn. However, he said open - pollinated corn "is second to none for silage" because of its high mineral and protein content. "We're 10-20 per cent less for bushel yield but we're 10- 20 per cent more in protein even with the yield differences," he said. He said the protein content in open -pollinated corn is currently 12 to 13 per cent, compared to eight to nine, per cent in hybrid corn. But, Kucyk Susan Hundertmark photo Victor Kucyk, of RR 1 Dublin, shows off his field of open pollinated corn during a recent tour of his farm. is attempting to raise the level to 20 per cent. "Twenty per cent is a monster number but it's achievable," he says. "The way hybrid com gets the yield up is at the expense of nutrition. That's why we're seeing a multi -billion dollar industry in nutritional supplements - because people are not getting it in the food." And, because of the higher nutritional content, Kucyk says he has many anecdotal. examples of farmers who have used less. feed to gain greater results with their livestock. "One farmer I know was mixing feed for 28 cows, feeding 45 and still getting increased milk production, using open -pollinated corn," he said. He also shared stories about egg producers whose hens laid larger eggs and goat farmers with increased milk production as much as 20 per cent using open -pollinated corn. The downside of the high nutrient content is a pest problem since wildlife is more attracted to the high protein and sugar content in open - pollinated com. Until hybrid corn, open - pollinated corn cannot be patented and therefore, farmers can save the seed and replant it themselves, creating potential savings for themselves. "Farmers are being squeezed with rising energy prices and they're being asked to do more with less. Farmers are entitled to save their seed. I think we're going to see more farmers interested in open -pollinated com." "1 would gladly show people how to select for seed. There's no catch to grow this com - just a lot of hard work," he said. AIR CONDITIONING & HEATING SPECIALISTS licensed icor Shpr't fgprnt,on. Gas eS. Plumbing Seaforth Agricultural Society • BANQUET & MEETING FACILITIES • 10,000 sq. feet of indoor show area See what we have to offer Call 527-1321 Today! '1'11OiI1'S1)\ I,R1:'1'11;1\i: SPRAY A. 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