If more farmers were willing to sell their peas as feed, they would have a thriving domestic market, says one of Canada’s largest hog producers.
Florian Possberg, chief executive officer of Big Sky Farms, said the hog industry “loves peas” but the supply of the sought-after feed ingredient is inconsistent and unreliable.
His 28,000-sow operation based in Humboldt, Sask., weans more than 700,000 pigs per year, making Big Sky the province’s top hog producer.
Possberg said the amount of peas he incorporates into finishing rations ranges widely depending upon availability.
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
During the last quarter of 2003, his pigs ate 9,500 tonnes of the pulse crop. That fell to 4,000 tonnes in the first quarter of 2004 because his mills couldn’t get enough.
“Our biggest challenge is to get a consistent supply,” said Possberg, who will speak on that topic at the 18th annual Canadian Special Crops Association convention that begins in Regina on July 24.
His operation bought only half of the 1.4 million bushels of peas it could have used last year.
Nobody tracks domestic feed pea consumption but Rob Tisdale, manager of Agricore United’s pulse crop division, estimates that about 500,000 tonnes of the crop were consumed by western Canadian hogs in 2003.
If other hog producers faced the same frustration as Big Sky, that represents 500,000 tonnes in lost sales.
Possberg would like to see the pea industry split into a food and feed stream, similar to how barley operates. But at least one grower doesn’t see that happening.
Ron Hundeby of Elbow, Sask., said he wouldn’t want to be locked into growing feed peas.
“I want to grow yellow peas and I want to sell them to the market that will give me the best dollar for them. Some years that’s food and some years that’s feed.”
He also noted barley breeders have developed high-yielding varieties well suited for feed markets, something which hasn’t occurred with peas.
But Possberg said something has to change to avoid what happened last year when growers held onto their crop hoping that food markets would heat up. Big Sky sat on the sideline waiting for growers to sell into feed markets so its mills could replace high-priced soy meal with peas.
“We’re sort of the leftover market,” he lamented.
Hundeby said that’s just a fact of life.
“I don’t know that there is a solution. Farmers are pretty individualistic,” he said.
Possberg admitted that enticing farmers to dedicate crop for feed markets is a tricky prospect.
“That’s the challenge all right. There’s no question about that.”
But he said while getting the most money is understandable for an individual, it is “probably not a great thing” for the industry as a whole.
“If (hog producers) don’t have a consistent supply, we just won’t use as many of them, and that’s probably going to depress the price of peas.”
The hog sector isn’t guilt-free either because once the pea price goes beyond $5 or $6 per bushel, feed mills switch to soy or canola meal.
Possberg thinks the answer lies in expanding pea acreage, so he was happy to see the latest Statistics Canada estimate of a record 3.5 million acre crop.
