Manitoba grain farmers are losing money on their major crops this year, according to their farm lobby group.
The president of Keystone Agricultural Producers says farmers will lose an average of $34 per acre on wheat, $57 per acre on barley and $16 per acre on canola.
Les Jacobson said because of lower grain prices this year and an end to subsidy payouts, farmers are waking up to how transportation and pooling changes will alter the way they do business.
“These changes will result in an evolution of the economy in the prairie region which, I would suggest, will be as profound as the shift from fur trading to wheat production,” he told the annual meeting of KAP.
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Location a factor
He noted other prairie provinces face less change because they are closer to export points.
Alberta farmers are “probably still making money at these kinds of prices,” he said. “They don’t have to adjust as much as we do.”
Farmers need to think about ways to add value to their crops, such as processing them here or feeding them to livestock.
Otherwise, they face lower land prices.
“I don’t quite like the reality of devaluing my farm just in order to make a living, so how are we going to adjust the farm to continue on the lifestyle that we have in Manitoba?” he asked.
