Why should edible bean growers plant edible beans this spring?
That was a question that presented Ontario bean buyer Jim Barclay with a challenge this morning during a session at the Manitoba Special Crops Symposium.
He suggested farmers knew how to grow the crop and it fit into their rotations. It allows farmers to lock-in margins before the crop is harvested. And, he noted humorously, beans are “fun to grow!”
None of that was enough to satisfy farmer Curtis Sims, who summed up the view of many farmers in the audience by noting: “You either have to be a contrarian or a complete fool to grow edible beans today.”
Barclay didn’t have a counterargument to that point. It was, after all, the issue that he began his presentation contemplating.
Edible bean acreage has been collapsing in Manitoba in recent years, while soybean acreage has been exploding. From being a big crop in 2000, navy beans have lost about 80 percent of their acreage, and many other beans have suffered the same result. Soybean acres have gone from near-zero to around 500,000 last year to some guesses of 700,000 for 2011. Those two phenomena are tied, with much edible bean acreage being shifted to soybeans.
It’s no mystery why: soybean prices are shooting through the roof and it’s an easy crop to grow and market. Edible bean prices are much poorer in comparison and they are tougher commodities to move.
I must admit I was struck this morning by just how in-love with soybeans Manitoba farmers seem to be. From nowhere a decade ago, it has become many farmers’ favorite crop. One farmer I chatted with seeds 40 percent of his acreage each year with soybeans. For the wet, disease prone fields of eastern Manitoba, soybeans are a great crop.
But I’ll be sad if beans ride off into the sunset. I don’t want to say goodbye to the musical fruit.
