With the failure of the organic maize crops in Australia we’ve had to turn to imports to make up the difference. When there is a dry summer across Central Queensland where a lot of our maize is grown, this can impact the crop since maize likes plenty of moisture in the soil.
We sourced organic yellow maize in Argentina. The plant originates in Central America where it was grown by the Taino Indians long before the Spanish arrived.
The maize is grown on several farms located in Buenos Aires province, in a belt that stretches from Bolivar (about 450kms south-west of Buenos Aires) covering Neuve de Julio and Bragado all the way up to Alberti, about 180kms west of Buenos Aires (see map).
As in Australia, maize grows during the summer months in Argentina. It’s planted in September/ October and harvested in April/May. This depends on the maize varieties – some have long growth cycles and others have shorter cycles. There are also varieties for late planting which happens at the end of October.
Once harvested, maize is sent to the Argentinian processor who grades and mills the corn. Australian import regulations mean that we are unable to import some grains in their whole form and they must be processed first. This is the case with maize.
In the photos you can see how a worker in the Argentinian mill sets the “sieve checking table”. He takes a small quantity of product from each sieve of the plane sifter and spreads them on the table to compare the sizes between them. If there’s any sample in the table that contains different sized grains, they will know there’s a damaged sieve in the sifter that needs to be replaced.
While there is GMO maize grown in Argentina, you can be sure that our Argentinian supplier meets the strict international organic standards and does not process GM maize.