Production contracts for alfalfa seed will be few and far between this year, according to seed trade representatives.
But farmers should avoid planting seed without a contract, given the large stocks and weak demand for the crop, they said.
Kurt Shmon of Pickseed Canada Inc. told growers at a Winnipeg conference Jan. 8 that prices for the 2000 crop went as high as 75 cents per pound, basis Manitoba.
Now, growers are lucky to find prices of 55 cents, he said.
For 2001, common alfalfa seed is expected to fetch 45 to 55 cents per lb., prices not seen since the last market lows of 1991.
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That price trough was short-lived because of extreme weather problems and crop failures that were a “blessing in disguise,” recalled Shmon. In fact, prices doubled in 1992.
He said problems with frost and hail last summer in the large Saskatchewan alfalfa seed crop, while unfortunate, will help the market this year.
“We’ve got to be thankful that Mother Nature took care of the surplus that could have been.”
Contracts offered this year will be for seeding in 2002 and marketing in the spring of 2004, Shmon said.
Forage seed quality will be critical during the price trough. Growers may not want to spend time and money on management and inputs when prices are so low, but it pays off, said Shmon.
“Even in a surplus, there’s always demand for clean product, for quality product.”
