PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man. – Forage’s potential and importance are consistently overlooked, says the head of Manitoba’s forage council, even though it ranks third in acreage in the province behind wheat and canola.
“This is no small crop in Manitoba,” Manitoba Forage Council executive director Wayne Digby said during a strategic planning workshop in Portage la Prairie April 8.
“(It’s) a critical component of our overall Manitoba economy.”
Statistics show that forage is grown on 17,000 of Manitoba’s 19,000 farms.
The workshop, hosted by the forage council, was designed to chart a new direction for the province’s forage sector. It attracted 80 seed growers, forage processors, grass-fed beef producers and provincial government officials.
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Bob Ward, a manager with Manitoba Agriculture, said the trend in recent years shows that tame hay acreage has been steady in Manitoba, typically 2.3 to 2.5 million acres over the last decade, which represents 20 percent of provincial cropland.
Ward said forage acres have been steady the last two years, despite high canola and grain prices that might have encouraged producers to switch away from forages.
As well, the value of Manitoba’s forage exports is increasing, from $30 million in 2002 to more than $50 million in 2007.
“Looking forward, this supports the argument that there is interest in these crops (forages).”
However, Ward said flat hay yields are a challenge, and more research dollars are needed to develop new, high yielding varieties.
Ian Wishart, a former forage council member and now president of Keystone Agricultural Producers, said energy production may provide an immediate opportunity.
Burning biomass to produce electricity is common in Europe, he said, and has potential in Manitoba.
However, it will require a change in provincial policy, he added, because the government keeps electricity prices artificially low.
“That low price has been holding back opportunities in energy based agriculture.”
In spite of that obstacle, Wishart said KAP has talked with the province and Manitoba Hydro about replacing the coal fired plant in Brandon with a biomass burner.
“That could be a real good kick start” for the forage sector, he said.
Carbon sequestration is another opportunity that has been talked about for a long time.
“I expect this is something we will see fairly quickly,” Wishart said, now that the Americans are more supportive of greenhouse gas reduction.
Digby said the workshop is the first step in the process to develop priorities for the industry.
The next step is to continue consultations with producers, government and groups and then develop a strategic plan for the forage sector, which should be completed by this fall.
