Record crop forecast | Expansion expected in non-traditional soybean regions of southwestern Manitoba
Manitoba farmers may shatter the provincial record for soybean acres this year, but a shift to Roundup Ready 2 beans and a lack of high quality seed threatens acreage gains.
The province set another record for soybeans last year, with Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp. insuring 587,000 acres, compared to 528,000 in 2010.
Manitoba Pulse Growers Association director Albert Turski, who farms near La Salle, Man., south of Winnipeg, said soybeans could reach seven figures in 2012.
“I think 700,000 to a million acres of soybeans, I would think,” he said.
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Turski intends to plant soybeans on 1,600 of his 4,000 acres, but like many producers in the Red River Valley, he is rubbing up against rotation limits.
That means that if acres swell to 700,000 or higher, the expansion will have to occur in non-traditional soybean regions such as southwestern Manitoba.
Dennis Lange, a crop production adviser with Manitoba Agriculture, said producers in the southwest were planning to seed more soybeans last year, but overland flooding drowned out thousands of acres in the region.
He polled farmers at a meeting in Melita, Man., last summer to see how many had planned to seed soybeans in 2011.
“Almost the whole group put their hands up, so there is interest.”
However, Manitoba farm supply dealers struggled to acquire sufficient seed last year.
The shift from Roundup Ready to Roundup Ready 2 technology is thought to have reset the seed supply chain to zero.
“The majority of varieties last year would have been Roundup Ready 1s,” Lange said.
“This year, the majority of the varieties will be Roundup Ready 2s.”
A wet spring followed by an extremely hot, dry summer reduced soybean yields in Manitoba, which meant soybean seed growers didn’t produce as much Roundup Ready 2 seed as expected. In turn, there was a shortage of high quality varieties last fall when producers drove to the local dealer to buy soybean seed.
“I’ve been hearing it was pretty hard to find some good seed,” Turski said.
“Guys replicating seed up here, in our area, there wasn’t any 40 to 45 bushel soybeans…. So that puts a damper on seed (production).”
Lange said most farmers who want to grow soybeans this year probably got their hands on seed.
Turski said producers who couldn’t buy quality Roundup Ready seed might grow non-genetically modified soybeans this year. High canola prices may also put a ceiling on soybean acres in Manitoba.
