INNISFAIL, Alta. — The joke in Kevin Shaw’s house is that he needs to bring his business cards and price lists to the curling rink because of the increased interest in forage seed.
The Pickseed salesperson said the drop in cereal and oilseed prices has encouraged producers to take a second look at forage seed.
“It’s shaping up to be a busy year for forage,” Shaw told producers at a recent Alberta Forage and Industry Network meeting.
He said supplies may be tight because of an average 2013 seed crop combined with increased interest in the crop.
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“The prices are inching up,” said Shaw. “Sales are fairly brisk. There is a lot more interest this year. There are far more orders than previous years.”
Marginal acres will be the first to go back into forages, he added.
Alfalfa, with its processing plant contracts, is the most stable forage and less likely to be taken out of production by high cereal and oilseed crops. However, Shaw said bromegrass and fescue crops are worked under pretty quickly when a better-priced crop appears.
He said individual farmers plan to seed 120, 160 or even 200 acres back into forages rather than just a small corner of the field.
Shaw doesn’t believe forage seed will be impossible to get, but finding the right varieties may prove challenging.
Calvin Yoder with Alberta Agriculture in Spirit River said more grass will be seeded this spring in Alberta’s Peace River region, which is an important grass growing region.
“We’ll see a few more acres. There is some interest,” said Yoder. “Cattle numbers still pretty low.”
He said the number of seed production acres will increase as producers rejuvenate their fields.
Shaw said the increased interest in growing timothy hay for export forced his company to go searching for seed.
Supplies of native grass seed should meet demand, but he warned that a couple of large pipeline projects could suck down the supply.
