Mike Durand knows drastic action is needed to convince farmers to grow something other than canola when the ubiquitous oilseed is trading around $12 per bushel.
So, to grab producers’ attention this winter, Durand has been offering contracts of $15 per bu. for new crop buckwheat.
“I think I’m raising quite a few eyebrows with my prices on buckwheat,” said Durand, sales manager of Nestibo Agra, a processor in Deloraine, Man., that handles sunflowers, flax, soybeans and canaryseed.
“Current crop I’m paying $17 a bushel. New crop I’m contracting for $15 per bu.”
A few Manitoba producers turned to buckwheat as a last minute crop last year, thanks to a wet and late spring. As a result, buckwheat acres in the province increased to 7,000 acres from the 3,500 to 5,000 acres that have been planted over the last several years, Durand told DePutter Publishing.
Acres in 2012 should be similar to 2011 or slightly higher, he added.
Growers who seeded buckwheat last spring were glad they did because many fields produced yields of 30 bushels per acre or higher.
