Jim Tanner is not convinced that soybeans are a good alternative for Saskatchewan farmers.
But he isn’t ruling them out completely, despite disappointing yields in the two years he has grown them.
“The yield is around 20, 22 bus-hels per acre,”
the Grand Coulee, Sask., farmer said. “Compared to len-tils or field peas in the area, soybeans didn’t perform as well.”
That isn’t surprising to Ray McVicar. The soybeans planted on test plots at the former Agriculture Canada Regina Research Station didn’t do well this year either.
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McVicar, crop development specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture, said the plants got the heat they love, but didn’t get enough rain.
Back in mid-September when McVicar examined the test plots just before harvest, he pointed to a lack of pods. Soybean pods usually set in groups of three, but most of the Regina plants set in pairs.
The plants also failed to hit the expected 60 centimetres. They were about 15 centimetres shorter than a similar plot at Indian Head, about 70 kilometres east of Regina.
“Indian Head had probably double the yield what we saw in Regina,” McVicar said.
Yield results from these plots, and other provincial crop tests at Canora and Outlook, are not yet available, but McVicar guessed the Regina field yielded 10 bushels per acre.
Despite the results, McVicar said the provincial agriculture department is considering a regional trial program at more locations through-out the province.
“It’s a higher-value crop, a broad-leaf alternative to wheat and it’s a legume so it will fix nitrogen,” McVicar said.
The crop is especially attractive for the province’s southeast corner, which has similar heat units to southern Manitoba. Commercial growers in that province seeded 23,000 acres this year.
Brian Wilson, pulse crop specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, said test plots including 19 registered and seven other varieties showed a range in maturation of about two weeks.
“We’re trying to take a long-term approach to it … expanding into lower heat unit areas,” Wilson said. “This year the heat units were enough (in non-traditional areas) that they matured.”
Varieties that mature earlier would make soybeans more viable in Saskatchewan, Mc-Vicar said, but those varieties could be three to four years away.
Tanner agreed earlier-maturing and higher-yielding varieties are needed. He seeded 200 acres in two varieties this year on his farm just west of Regina. Apparently neither was suitable for his area, he said.
“I think we can do a better job next year, but we need that 30 bushel plus range,” Tanner said.
Soybean prices are now about $6 per bushel, he said, putting the potential returns ahead of most other crops. And, he said there is good potential to tap into the Asian market with varieties for human consumption.
Producers considering soybeans will want to make sure their seeding and harvesting equipment can handle the large-seed crop.
McVicar said producers who are already growing beans, peas and chickpeas wouldn’t have to make a new investment.
Wilson said economics will dictate how many acres are sown next year. He noted Manitoba growers seeded four times as many acres in 1998 compared to 1997.
McVicar compares soybeans to chickpeas. Three years ago, the Saskatchewan acreage consisted of only little test plots.
“Now we’ve got about 90,000 acres and that will probably double next year,” he said. “Soybeans are well worth keeping an eye on.”
