It’s too early to know for certain, but industry and government reps say soybeans will not top a million acres in Manitoba.
Ray Wytinck, general manager NorthStar Genetics, one of the primary soybean distributors in Manitoba, said sales at most NorthStar dealers increased from 2012, which suggests that acreage is up.
“I know we grew a bit (in seed sales) from last year,” he said. “So, I’d say we’d be very close to a million acres. Maybe a tad short.”
Dennis Lange, a Manitoba Agriculture crop production adviser in Altona, said industry reports suggest that soybeans will be in the 900,000 to 950,000 acre range.
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Several months ago industry representatives and crop analysts were predicting soybeans would top 1.2 million acres in Manitoba, shattering the record of 850,000 acres set in 2012.
In certain regions of the province, such as the northern Interlake, soybean acres have increased dramatically.
Growers have likely planted more than 40,000 acres in the Fisher Branch-Arborg area, said Dean Stoyanowski, Manitoba Agriculture farm production adviser in Arborg.
“We’ve probably doubled or more our acres from last year,” he said. “I think we were at 15,000 or 20,000 last year.”
Similarly, growers planted significantly more soybeans in the Dauphin-Ste. Rose du Lac region.
However, acres may not exceed one million because of a slow start to spring and excess moisture along the U.S. border.
“Just because of he southern belt. There’s a strip there of high moisture,” Wytinck said. “Boissevain-Miami, that whole area got a lot of rain.”
Steve Friesen, seed division account manager with Delmar Commodities, which distributes Legend Seeds, said they would soon have a more accurate picture of soybean sales in Manitoba.
“All of us, distributors, are in the position of seeing how much seed is going to be returned. That will give us a far better idea of where we will stand,” he said. “(But) I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re between the 900,000 and one million mark.”
Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp., the provincial insurer, won’t know officially how many acres of soybeans are insured until mid-July. Until then, any estimates are approximations, said Doug Wilcox, MASC research and program development manager.
“Prior to that we’re just extrapolating and guessing. And we could be wildly off.”
