Knowing Customer Needs Can Prevent Delivery Surprises
by Elizabeth Armstrong

As black and white as the Canadian Grain Commissions Official Grain Grading Guide appears, the unofficial grade preferences within the industry can present some challenges; however, when familiarized with the end user needs, these hurdles can be minimized. It all comes down to knowing what youre working with.

Grade #2 Canadian Eastern Yellow (CEY) corn is the standard grade for such industrial destinations as Casco. (A grade #3 CEY is usually accepted at a discount). They have little flexibility regarding grades because the physical process requires whole kernels to be used in making their products. Cascos wet milling method steeps the kernels in water and sulphur dioxide, separating layers of the whole kernel to extract single parts to make sweeteners, starches and oil. The remaining by-product then goes into feed markets. Wet milling allows corn with higher moisture to be used, but high fines, or broken kernels, indicate damage on the inside parts of the corn kernel, each imperative to the finished product.

Commercial Alcohol also requires grade #2 CEY, with grade #3 usually at a discount, but tolerance to fines, or broken kernels, is greater because the ethanol processing method sends the corn to a hammermill for grinding. While the ethanol plants process allows for slightly higher fines than that of Casco, they cannot be as receptive to higher moisture corn because ethanol is a dry milling technique. The water added to the ground meal has to be controlled, and a formulated mash moves on to the fermentation stages. Corn grading less than #3 due to test weight would not be suitable because it is considered likely lower in starch content, the principle ingredient in the ethanol process. 

Feed mills will generally use a grade # 3 CEY or better, but there is a large window of preference, determined by the type of feed being manufactured, animal species being fed, storage space at the feed mill, quality of competing commodities.

Its all about knowing what youve got. Higher fines (Grades #3-4) with high test weight and no mould issues can make it into a grinding market with little or no discount.

But a typical misconception is that if corn is high in fines, it can easily go to the feed trade. It will likely end up in feed somewhere, but not all feed mills can use it. A sample high in fines may be light in test weight, often indicating low energy value, forcing the mill to re-formulate, usually with other commodities. This exercise is costly, and labour intensive.

Samples with high fines have a higher incidence of mould and vomitoxin. While vomitoxin is not a grading factor, it is a feed quality concern. Hogs, calves and turkey poults cannot tolerate high vomitoxin in feed, whereas most poultry and cattle have elevated thresholds. The feed mills receptiveness will depend on its feed customer.

Some mills will use the lesser grades if space allows them to keep it separate from #2-3 grades of corn, enabling them to wait for test results, and to determine how it can effectively enter feed formulations. The consistency of Grade #2-3 is ideal, because a sporadic lower grade thrown into the mix can upset the formulas that mills guarantee to their feed customers.

Occasionally, we've been faced with a crop year where the majority of Ontario corn bushels end up grading #3-#4. A flip-side situation may be that as long as the lower grade result is determined by test weight, not mould, volume consistency of the grades #3-4 deliveries can enable the feed mill to make long term feed formulation adjustments. Then a grade #2, though not unwelcome, can skew the #3-4 formulation. Mills will use the #2, but seldom pay a premium for it.

Remember this: regardless of how good the grade, feed mills cannot use high moisture corn. Anything over 15.5% moisture will inevitably cause production problems. Wet corn will plug pellet mills, and create heating problems within the bins.