Farmers planning to use certified seed in the spring should start
talking to suppliers now.
The Canadian Seedgrowers Association says the drought hit its members
as hard as other farmers, and producers may have trouble finding some
crops and varieties if they leave it too late.
“Some varieties and some crop types that are primarily sourced from
that area hardest hit will definitely be in shorter supply than ever
before,” said Randy Preater, project manager for the association.
Read Also
Critical growing season is ahead for soybeans
What the weather turns out to be in the United States is going to have a significant impact on Canadian producers’ prices
Alberta and Saskatchewan farmers will probably have difficulty finding
certified barley seed, because the drought hit the barley belt hard.
Barley from other areas, such as eastern Manitoba and south of the
Trans-Canada Highway, also had a lot of problems.
“Barley is our biggest concern,” said Preater.
“Often where there was a good yielding crop, often there were the
conditions for fusarium.”
With the Alberta government cracking down on feed grain imports,
farmers in that province should make sure they can find a source of
clean barley.
Preater said the areas untouched by drought had bad weather at harvest
time that damaged crops.
“There are areas with serious quality concerns, which when you talk
seed is a big deal,” he said.
“Where you could perhaps market lower quality grades of commercial
crops, with seed, if you don’t have the quality, you don’t have the
product.”
Chickpea seed may also be short because of drought and quality problems
that beset most of its growing area.
