Page 9 - RealDirtENG2020
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DID YOU KNOW?
Farmers grow three main types of corn in Canada26?
Grain corn is corn in which the kernels on the cob are used to feed livestock, and are used to make fuels like ethanol, and as a human food ingredient.
Silage corn involves the whole plant being harvested as feed for livestock.
Sweet corn is the type of corn that people eat fresh, canned or frozen.
Grains, oilseeds and specialty crops
Corn, soybeans, barley, oats, canola, and wheat (including durum wheat—the kind used to make pasta) are Canada’s major grain and oilseed crops. “What’s an oilseed crop?” you may be wondering. It’s a crop that is grown primarily for the oil found in the seeds.
Farmers will grow a variety of crops, depending on the soil and climate factors in their areas. Soybeans and grain corn are mainly grown in Ontario, Québec, and Manitoba, although farmers in Saskatchewan and the Maritimes also grow these crops. Canola, barley, oats, and durum wheat are grown primarily in the Prairie provinces. Other Canadian grain, oilseed, and speciality crops, also primarily grown in the Prairies, include rye, quinoa,  ax, canary seed, mustard, sun ower, buckwheat, and camelina, as well as forages and industrial hemp.
Canadian grains and oilseeds are exported to many countries around the world. In 2019, for example, the EU, Iran and Bangladesh were major buyers of Canadian soybeans27. China has traditionally been a major importer of Canadian soybeans. Canadian oats were in demand in the United States and Mexico28.
Michaela Knechtel
Canada is a world leader in the production and export of mustard, with Saskatchewan responsible for two-thirds of the country’s production. In 2019, Prairie farmers grew just under 400,000 acres of the crop in three different types: yellow, brown, and oriental mustard29.
Career Pro le
Grain Farmer
Lane Stockbrugger
The Stockbrugger family has been farming on land in east-central Saskatchewan for over 100 years. Today, Lane Stockbrugger farms with his brother Lance and their two families.
They grow a rotation of malt barley, wheat, oats, canary seed, canola and peas. “No two farms are exactly the same, but what remains consistent is the time and attention that is put into every decision that farmers make,” said Stockbrugger, “We’re lucky that we can work through these decisions together, but we’ll
also draw on the expertise of others when needed, all to ensure we are making the right choices from a sustainability and safety perspective.”
Farming has changed signi cantly over the last century, and the brothers hope to continue to evolve and build a farm legacy that the next generation wants to be involved in.
Photo with permission from Country Guide/Photography: Richard Jenkins • Re ections by Richard
QUICK
FACT
Sweet corn kernels grow in an even number of rows on the cob30!
Chapter 2: Crops and plants 9


































































































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