Wheat Steady: Bumper Crop This Year?

 

Idaho Wheat is behind last year’s pace. Wet conditions and cold weather have slowed the crop.

 

So prices should be low, right? No! wheat has been one of the most dependable crops in terms of pricing this year, Meridian Broker and farmer Neil Durrant:

 

"Wheat is actually one of the few crops that's been kind of stable, soft white wheat. There's been a couple of other varieties that are lower, but soft white has been holding steady right now," said Durrant.

 

Soft white wheat in Portland is priced between 5.75 cents to 5.80 and has been steady all season. Planted acres are expected to be up this year and many farmers are looking to wheat to buffer losses from other planted crops:

 

"There was more wheat planted in the Valley this year. I think one of the biggest things was water, with the fall that we had and not enough water, we put wheat in to conserve a little bit of water but with the spring we have had the winter wheat crop is looking really good, which could come back and hurt us a bit if we do have a good yielding wheat crop this year and oversupply the market a bit and cause the market to drop," said Durrant.

Video: Why Invest in Canada’s Seed Future? | On The Brink: Episode 3

Darcy Unger just invested millions to build a brand-new seed plant on his farm in Stonewall, Manitoba so when it’s time for his sons to take over, they have the tools they need to succeed.

Right now, 95% of the genetics they’ll be growing come from Canadian plant breeders.

That number matters.

When fusarium hit Western Canada in the late 90s, it was Canadian breeders who responded, because they understood Canadian conditions. That ability to react quickly to what’s happening on Canadian farms is exactly what’s at risk when breeding programs lose funding.

For farmers like Darcy, who have made generational investments based on the assumption that better genetics will keep coming, the stakes are direct and personal.

We’re on the brink of decisions that will shape our agricultural future for not only our generation, but also the ones to come.

What direction will we choose?

On The Brink is a year-long video series traveling across Canada to meet the researchers, breeders, farmers, seed companies, and policymakers shaping the future of Canadian plant breeding. Each week, a new story. Each story, a piece of the bigger picture.

Episode 3 is above. Follow Seed World Canada to catch every episode, and tell us: Do you think the next generation will have the tools they need to success when they takeover? How is the future going to look?