Farmers might have a larger than usual hunger for pedigreed seed this spring, but in some cases there could be less than ever available.
“Our barley yield fell almost in half, just because of the stress of the season,” said western Manitoba seed grower Eric McLean.
“Now, (the industry) is frantically trying to find barley for those who want to grow barley, and there isn’t much out there.”
Seed growers on the eastern Prairies, who were hit hard last summer by flooding, saturation and disease problems, have produced much less than they usually would.
Read Also
Canada’s plant hardiness zones receive update
The latest update to Canada’s plant hardiness zones and plant hardiness maps was released this summer.
At the same time, commercial grain growers are expected to plant more certified seed this spring because their own saved seed often doesn’t look good even after cleaning.
“I don’t think there’s going to be as much re-use,” said Brennan Turner of the SeedLead online seed marketplace.
“Guys are going to try to clean up as much as possible, but at the same time you want to put a quality product in the ground.”
Seed growers in southern Alberta produced adequate seed supplies, but McLean said farmers can’t assume that all crop types and varieties were equally produced.
He said hoped-for supplies might not exist if certain kinds of production were concentrated in certain areas.
McLean said that’s especially true with smaller crops such as barley and flax, which have shrunk in acreage. His flax yield was 17 bushels per acre last year, which was down significantly from 42 bu. per acre in 2013.
As well, barley seed growers have been following the lead of commercial farmers, who have slashed their barley acres and moved to other crops in recent years.
It means big percentage losses can ensue when bad weather hits the remaining acreage, like it did last year.
McLean said commercial grain growers were able to shift their acres around in the flood zones to grow whatever looked most promising, considering the wet soil and short season, but seed growers couldn’t be as flexible.
“We don’t have the option to cut and paste what we sow. Those fields have a purity history and we have to maintain that,” he said.
“There was no plan. It was whatever dried up first, that’s the crop that got planted.”
As he scrambles to find barley seed for customers who need it this spring, McLean rues his decision last year to clear storage of 2013 pedigreed barley because he needed room for the 2014 crop he assumed was going to arrive.
“I dumped 10,000 bushels of the prettiest barley we’ve ever grown into the feed market because there was no demand for the seed,” said McLean.
“I wish I had kept every bushel of that.”
