Soybeans are king this year, say three leading special crop growers in Manitoba’s Red River Valley.
The combination of high prices and hardiness means many other farmers will likely be thinking the same thing.
“It looks like we’ll have a wet spring again, and they’re a good choice going into that,” Altona farmer Kyle Friesen said in an interview during the Manitoba Special Crops Symposium.
LaSalle farmer Albert Turski concurred. He regrets the rotational limitations that stop him from pushing his soybean acreage beyond 40 percent of his land base.
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“It’d be nice to put three-quarters of the whole farm in soybeans.”
Beausejour farmer Andrew Saramanga plans to grow 1,000 acres of soybeans this year, but the forage seed crops in his rotation won’t allow him to go any further.
Farmers expressed excitement about soybean price and production prospects during the conference but seemed less excited about sunflowers and edible beans.
Industry experts expect sunflower acres to drop 25 percent this spring and edible bean acres could fall 30 percent.
The decade-long slump in edible bean acres is partly the result of soybean expansion in Manitoba, while the crash in sunflowers is blamed on continuing problems with saturated soil and sclerotinia infections.
The disease problems have prompted Friesen to stay clear of sunflowers this year.
“We’ve had disease, they don’t handle moisture well and there are poor weed control products.”
Saramanga is taking another approach by increasing his sunflower acreage.
“It’s one of those things where if everyone’s running away from it, maybe it’s time to run to it,” he said.
Saramanga and Friesen plan to increase their oat acres.
Saramanga said good contract prices for new crop oats are an enticement, while Friesen said prices plus freedom from Canadian Wheat Board complications make oats the favoured cereal crop on his farm.
All three farmers face problems with wet soil this spring.
“After a 10-year cycle of wet weather, I’m just getting sick of rubber boots and water on the fields,” said Saramanga.
Turski said endless wet weather has dimmed memories of drought conditions that caused problems in the past.
“I’d rather lose my crop to drought than to more wet weather because at least I can sit under a tree with a cold beer if it’s dry,” Turski said jokingly.
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