Prairie Oat Growers Association president would like to see domestic use boosted and value-added processing expanded
Promoting more oat consumption in Canada and North America is a top item on Brad Boettger’s wish list.
Boettger, who farms near Tofield, Alta., was recently elected president of the Prairie Oat Growers Association.
The fourth generation farmer is the first POGA president to be based in Alberta. He will replace Jenneth Johanson, who has served as president for the last four years.
In a recent interview, Boettger said Canada has a reputation as a reliable supplier of high quality oats to buyers in Europe, Mexico and the United States.
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Market opportunities in China and Asia are also expanding rapidly and a promotional campaign aimed at increasing oat sales to Japan is generating positive results.
But domestic consumption could be increased, Boettger said.
Value-added processing could also be expanded in Western Canada.
That would help to establish oats as a more stable crop in rotations across the Prairies.
“I think we should be promoting oats within our own country, to our own people and for our own health,” said Boettger.
“It shouldn’t be all about exports and getting our crop out of the country.”
Boettger farms along with his wife and four daughters, his father and a brother.
Together, the family produces a variety of crops each year, including oats, barley, wheat, fall rye, peas, fababeans and canola.
Oats has been an important part of the family’s regular crop rotation and has accounted for roughly 20 percent of the farm’s annual seeded acreage for about the past decade.
“It’s been a big part of our farm, and honestly, it’s been one of our best cash crops, outside of canola,” he said.
“We have a number of (reliable) oat buyers located quite close to us, so it’s been a pretty good fit for our farm.”
Crop residues from oats have improved the farm’s overall soil health by increasing organic matter.
As a bonus, crops that are planted on oat stubble the following year seem to do really well.
He said a big challenge the oat industry faces is levelling out the year-to-year fluctuations in prices and domestic supply. When prices are good, domestic production increases, resulting in surplus supplies and lower margins the following year.
“I think that’s one of the struggles within the oat market for sure, is the amount of production we can have from year to year,” Boettger said.
“It seemed like everyone kind of jumped on the oat-growing bandwagon last year. There were some pretty high prices out there and it seemed like everyone was hoping those prices would stick around. But instead, we kind of flooded the market.
“I guess I would like to see oats to be thought of as a more regular and reliable option in farmers’ rotations.”
From an industry-wide perspective, Boettger said the Canadian grain industry is in a good spot, but there are challenges.
The availability of important crop protection products is an issue he said must be addressed.
“I think one of the biggest challenges, not just for oats but for all of our grain crops, is that we need to work more closely along with our federal counterparts to keep important tools (herbicides, pesticides and fungicides) available to our growers. It seems like we struggle continuously, having to fight to keep tools in our toolbox.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of work that needs to be done in educating people and helping them to understand how important these tools are for our farmers and how important they are for food production.”
Canada is the largest exporter of oats in the world and POGA represents the interests of about 90 percent of Canada’s oat growers.
