GENEVA (Reuters) ¬— Canadian farmers are likely to expand sowings of durum wheat for the 2015 crop because of high prices and firm demand while canola sowings will also be held at recent high levels, the head of Canada’s association of grain farmers said on Thursday.
“I would expect a very sharp increase in durum sowings for the 2015 harvest,” said Gary Stanford, president of the farming association Grain Growers of Canada.
“There is currently a shortage of durum in the world and prices are very attractive,” he told Reuters on the sidelines of the Global Grain conference.
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Prices for durum wheat, a key pasta ingredient, hit four-year highs this autumn after the smallest global crop in 13 years.
“I think there will be good opportunities for sales to be made to Canada’s traditional durum customers including Italy, Turkey, Algeria and elsewhere in the Middle East,” he said.
Canadian farmers needed to concentrate on growing high quality, high value grains to compensate for Canada’s high transport costs to export markets, Stanford said.
Canadian canola sowings for the 2015 crop are likely to be unchanged on the year but remain around the high levels sown for harvesting in 2014, he said.
“I am confident we will see good demand for Canadian canola, especially from Asia,” he said.
A rise is also expected in malting barley sowings with sales likely to traditional customers the United States and Europe.
Canadian farmers are also considering expanding sowings of soybeans especially for crop rotation purposes, he said.
Soybeans have low input needs but new seed strains will have to be developed to suit Canada’s cooler climate before a major expansion of Canadian soybean cultivation is likely, he added.
