WINNIPEG (Staff) – This should be a banner year for canaryseed production, according to a recent Statistics Canada report.
Prairie farmers say they are going to plant 605,000 acres of the bird feed, about 66 percent more than in 1994-95.
“The market price for the ’95 crop is very good, so the producers are expecting this to carry over into ’96,” explained Nelson Longmuir, a senior economist with Agriculture Canada.
Longmuir, who monitors special crop prices for the insurance division, said canaryseed looks more profitable than wheat.
Looking at expected costs and returns, he said farmers could get between $50 and $140 per acre for canaryseed, while wheat returns between $35 and $50 per acre.
“Probably that’s what’s maybe even accounted for some of the decline in the field pea acres,” Longmuir speculated. Statistics Canada estimates western farmers will plant about 400,000 fewer acres of peas this year.
Longmuir said prices should stay strong, but he has already noticed one major buyer lowering its bid prices for old and new crop canaryseed by $20 per tonne.
