Winter Cereals Canada expects tighter than average supplies of fall seeded cereal crops this year as a result of reduced plantings last fall and potential losses from frost that hit a couple of weeks ago.
Acres seeded to winter wheat in Manitoba and Saskatchewan last fall dropped to the 200,000 range from a peak a couple of years in 600,000 range, while acres in Alberta remained constant in the range of 100,000.
Jake Davidson, the executive director of Winter Cereals Canada, reports the crop that was planted came through the winter really well but the big question now is what the frost that hit Manitoba a couple of weeks ago has done to the crop.
The winter wheat has traditionally been a very popular crop with hog farmers and has been very popular with the colonies and the crop for both the hogs and their poultry operations.
If the winter wheat takes a bit of a kicking it does make quite a difference.
They will kick into spring crops and hope they get what they want, but the large colonies especially love the idea of the winter wheat because it spreads out that harvest load in the fall.
As far as winter wheat goes it has been a significant source as an energy ingredient.
The winter wheat is an energy ingredient in the hog and poultry industry, especially the on farm mixing industry.
When we take a hit it does make it a lot more difficult for these on farm mixing operations to get the supply the like.
They like the high yield and they like the fact that it’s higher in energy that the spring wheats so it causes and entire shift in the feeding program.
Davidson hopes the winter wheat had enough growth on it to have survived the frost.
He says he hasn’t heard yet of anyone digging up their winter wheat, but a lot of growers have been reseeding canola, and a later seeded canola crop means a later harvested crop, which means those acres won’t be available during the August 15 to September 15 winter wheat seeding window.
