Supply could be limited | Officials warn of potential shortage next season due to this year’s crop damage
Pedigreed seed growers in southeastern Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba continue to assess damage caused by recent rain.
“What we’re hearing from Manitoba seed growers and Saskatchewan seed growers is that it’s going to have an impact on supplies,” said Laurie Wakefield, president of the Saskatchewan Seed Growers Association.
“Some growers were fortunate and may have had very little acreage loss and other estimates are ranging anywhere from 20 to 100 percent loss on some fields.”
Heavy rains over the past two to three weeks have flooded some fields in southeastern Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba and have hammered yield potential on others.
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
The full impact on pedigreed seed supplies likely won’t be known for at least a few weeks, but regional shortages are likely, especially in the hardest hit areas.
Doug Heaman, a pedigreed seed grower at Virden, Man., said damage is variable, depending on location.
In Manitoba’s far southwestern corner, very little was seeded due to excess moisture in May.
Since then, persistent rain has affected seed growers over a wider area.
In southeastern Saskatchewan, rainfall in some areas since late June has exceeded 250 millimetres.
Pedigreed seed acres will be down in southern Manitoba, said Heaman.
“When you get down into the southwest corner, there wasn’t much of anything seeded,” said Heaman, a director with the Manitoba Seed Growers Association.
“It’s going to be hard to (assess the impact) yet but there will be certain varieties that will likely be short.”
Crop development is another concern.
In the Virden area, crops are at least a week and possibly two behind normal development, Heaman said.
“The fungicides are usually done by this time. … Other than winter wheat, we’re just getting started with fungicides now.”
Wakefield said a clearer picture will emerge in southeastern Saskatchewan over the next few weeks, after growers have assessed their fields and decided whether they will be written off or repurposed for commercial production.
Some crops are better equipped to handle excessive moisture than others.
Lentils and peas struggle in wet conditions but cereals are generally more resilient.
Crops that were seeded earlier and were further advanced by late June can tolerate more moisture.
In some areas, yield potential for early seeded cereals is well above average but other crops are struggling.
Wakefield said huge production last year combined with larger-than-normal carryovers of pedigreed seed in many areas will help to offset losses incurred this year.
“If there are big areas that were flooded and are unlikely to recover, conceivably pedigreed seed acres will be reduced and that will affect seed supplies for next year,” he said.
“The fortunate thing, as far as seed supplies for commercial producers, is that last year’s crop was very, very good and quality was very, very good. … So a lot of pedigreed seed growers and retailers will have stockpiled some seed and have carryovers that will be available to offset some of that acreage loss.”
In 2013, pedigreed seed acreage was up by more than 32,000 acres in Saskatchewan, rising to roughly 331,000 acres from less than 299,000 acres in 2012.
Manitoba acreage also increased, jumping to 330,000 in 2013 from 313,000 acres a year earlier.
Canada-wide, pedigreed seed acreage surpassed 1.3 million acres last year, the highest level in more than a decade.
