Winter wheat is gaining popularity in Western Canada, especially in eastern half.
Prairie farmers planted winter wheat on 510,000 acres last fall, which was almost double what was planted 10 years ago.
Winter Cereals Canada thinks farmers will plant at least as much this year, and maybe even a bit more.
The expansion may be tempered by drought, which is gripping large parts of the Prairies as the ideal time for seeding winter wheat draws to a close.
“The real challenge for people is to get used to seeding it into dry ground,” said Lee Moats, president of Winter Cereals Canada.
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“The inexperienced growers are hesitant about doing that.”
Moats has grown winter wheat at his farm near Riceton, Sask., since 1985. He’s had success with the crop, which allows him to spread out his seeding and harvesting workload.
He said new varieties with improved rust resistance and higher yields have helped restore interest in the crop. More varieties have also been developed that are suited for the eastern Prairies.
Because the crop matures earlier than spring wheat, it offers growers better odds of dodging fusarium head blight, a disease that plagued growers in Manitoba again this year.
And by heading in mid-June, winter wheat gives growers a way to skirt the menace posed by wheat midge, a pest familiar to prairie producers.
“Most of the people who look at winter wheat think of all the problems of why it won’t work for them,” Moats said.
“It’s really a matter of attitude and paradigm shift.”
Part of that shift is adjusting to the idea of planting in the fall rather than only in the spring. It also means getting comfortable with seeding in years when moisture is scarce, something that those experienced with the crop are more prepared to do.
“Unless it’s absolutely dessicated, bone dry, it will grow in the fall,” said David Struthers, executive manager for Winter Cereals Canada.
“Once it gets established, the risk of it drying back is fairly low.”
Moats, who is also a full-time regional agrologist for Ducks Unlimited, said that while winter wheat spreads out his workload, it also makes him a profit.
Early emergence reduces his reliance on herbicides for controlling weeds such as wild oats, and less pesticides are needed to control insects.
High yields help make up for a price that is normally not great, about equal to a No. 3 red spring wheat.
“I grow winter wheat because I make more money,” said Moats.
“I make more money because I spend less (on inputs).”
Struthers said the average winter wheat yield in Manitoba was 59 bushels per acre in 1999, compared with an average yield of 36 bu. per acre for spring wheat that year.
Last year, the average yield for winter wheat in Manitoba was 61 bu. per acre compared to an average yield of 40 bu. per acre for spring wheat.
“We’re clearly getting a yield advantage,” Struthers said.
Much of the winter wheat grown in Western Canada is sold as feed, because inconsistent quality makes it harder to tap into the export market for milling wheat. That weakness has been a handicap to the crop’s value.
“That’s the downside to the crop from the farmer’s point of view,” Struthers said.
The upside is that the crop comes off early, offering an opportunity for growers to capture premiums in the marketplace.
As well, in the past few years, the Canadian Wheat Board has had a 100 percent call for winter wheat.
The wheat board also launched a contract program this year that could encourage growers to plant varieties better suited for milling. Included in that program is an incentive premium, along with a requirement that farmers use pedigreed seed from a limited number of varieties.
The application deadline for the program was Sept. 21. Only a limited number of contracts were available.
Placing an emphasis on winter wheat for export markets may not sit well with all growers, particularly those philosophically opposed to the wheat board.
The effort will also mean adapting varieties whose agronomic traits are less attractive than those suited for domestic feed.
“We’re going to suffer a bit as we make the transition,” Moats said.
However, he believes the effort will eventually pay dividends to prairie producers by opening up more export opportunities for winter wheat. He noted that new emphasis has been placed on breeding varieties that appeal to millers.
Last fall, Saskatchewan planted 230,000 acres of winter wheat, Manitoba 200,000 acres and Alberta 80,000.
The number of acres planted to winter wheat this fall is not yet available.
Struthers said he will not be surprised if Manitoba plants the largest number of acres on the Prairies this year.
He expects the number of winter wheat acres in Alberta to remain fairly static.
