WINNIPEG (Staff) – Grain quality will count as much as or more than quantity now that the farmers are paying the full cost of their freight.
Farmers and the grain trade have told Statistics Canada they would like to see quality surveyed as well as yield in its production estimates, says Oliver Code, head of crop reporting.
“In some ways with the changes, in the case of wheat, quality is going to be as important as how much there is,” Code said.
Better estimate in the bin
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“If we (added quality), it would have to be in November, because you’d want to do that when it’s in the bin.”
He is also considering eventually adding peas and other special crops to the July 31 survey. “The only problem we have is that the farming community can tell very well what the yields of wheat, oats, barley are … they have 20 years experience. Some (specialty) farmers are new or have only a year or two of experience, and they can’t eyeball the crop as easily.”
Code said once the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange creates its feed pea contract, it will be important for peas to be included in the July 31 survey.
