Special crops production prospects are down because of lower seeded acreage and potential weed and disease problems, but there is one area where a dramatic improvement from 2004 is expected.
“If I’m bullish on something, I think our quality is going to be much better than last year,” said Ray McVicar, special crops specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture.
Soaking rain interrupted by spells of hot weather have crops developing at a normal pace in a province where 80 percent of Canada’s special crops are grown.
“I have far less concern about a potential early frost ruining the quality this year than I had last year,” said McVicar.
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However, while he is bullish on quality, he is bearish on quantity. Wet weather has prevented growers from following their weed control programs, which may lead to disease problems later this summer, especially for crops such as lentils and chickpeas.
“We may not get the bushels that we had last year,” he said.
Another limiting factor is that special crops acreage is expected to drop slightly, according to a Statistics Canada survey published June 23.
The survey forecasts 7.6 million acres of special crops, down 100,000 acres from 2004. Dramatic reductions in canaryseed and mustard plantings more than offset the growth in pulses, which are expected to increase to 6.3 million acres from 5.9 million last year.
Despite slumping prices, pea area is expected to set a new record, occupying 3.5 million acres of prairie soil, up two percent from last year’s plantings.
“Farmers are thought to favour the nitrogen-fixing ability of peas (and) European demand has recently been strong for feed peas as a result of drought, particularly in Spain,” according to the survey of 29,200 producers.
Statistics Canada expects lentil area to increase 11 percent to 2.1 million acres this year. McVicar said the crop got off to a much better start than in 2004 but excessive wet weather has raised saturated red flags.
“There have been a lot of people that have told me they haven’t been able to spray,” McVicar said. “Their weed control program has been set back a lot.”
Weed infestations can shave 20 percent off lentil yields and although there haven’t been many reports of disease, McVicar suspects it is only a matter of time.
Chickpeas have the biggest percentage increase of any special crop, rising to 190,000 acres, up 65 percent from 2004.
McVicar is suspicious of that number because of the high green seed count in last year’s chickpea harvest.
“I don’t know if there was that much good seed around. I would be surprised to see 190,000 acres of chickpeas this year.”
Strong prices and low carryout from the 2004 crop encouraged bean growers to plant 490,000 acres of the crop, up 25 percent from 2004.
However, while total pulse acreage is up seven percent over last year, the number of acres planted to other special crops is plummeting. The survey said growers planted 500,000 acres of canaryseed and 530,000 acres of mustard, down 43 percent and 32 percent respectively. McVicar said that is an appropriate market reaction for two crops that are expected to enter the new crop year with record carryout supplies.
Sunflower plantings are up 26 percent to 265,000 acres, while Manitoba’s buckwheat crop is expected to drop to 10,000 acres from 15,000 in 2004.
