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There are options when BMR corn goes away

An agronomist says there will be options for dairy and beef producers when Corteva phases out brown midrib or BMR corn varieties. 

Chad Staudinger with Dairyland Seed tells Brownfield Dairyland has been working with high digestible fiber corn varieties since before BMR was released and before Corteva acquired Dairyland Seed.  “We’ve been researching and developing products since the late 1990s to put in our high DF lineup and dual-purpose silage programs that have tremendous benefits, so there are other options out there.”

Staudinger says the high digestible fiber varieties have more potential for handling stress including drought. “The way the patterns have gone in recent years anyway, we need to have hybrids that can handle a lot of different conditions and handle a lot of stresses. Products in our high DF program have definitely been bred for that resiliency and agronomic toughness to handle the stressful conditions.”

Staudinger urges producers to be patient and investigate all options as BMR corn is phased out over the next five years. “We had options even before this product came to the marketplace four our brand, so our customers and our clientelle, I think we’re not going to skip a beat. We’re going to move right into high DF and other products that show the benefits we need to feed our cattle and make milk and meat.”

BMR corn is a natural gene mutation discovered by the University of Minnesota and is popular for its digestible fiber properties.  It’s been on the market since 1996.  In early April, Corteva announced they would move away from BMR lines just three years after launching their Bovalta BMR corn silage lineup.

Staudinger spoke to Brownfield during the recent WPS Farm Show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

AUDIO: Chad Staudinger discusses what to expect after BMR corn is phased out with Brownfield’s Larry Lee