CNS Canada –– The president of the Saskatchewan Mustard Development Commission says he’s optimistic this year’s mustard crop will be OK after temperatures dipped below freezing over the weekend.
In an interview Monday, Richard Marleau said it will take another four to five days before anyone knows for sure.
In southwestern Saskatchewan, “it was 0 C and it wasn’t freezing for that long, just a couple of hours,” said Marleau, who farms at Aneroid, southeast of Swift Current.
Closer to the end of the week, he said, he expects producers will know the true extent of the damage and whether or not they have to reseed.
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“To reseed the mustard… seed costs aren’t as much as canola would be. But it’s your time and effort and doing something twice,” he said.
It will also depend what stage the mustard seed was at when the frost hit it, he said.
“If it has a few light frosts early on it can get hardened. It is sensitive, like most oilseeds.”
Up until last weekend seeding had gone relatively well. Marleau estimated 350,000 acres of mustard seed went into the ground across Canada.
“Acreage-wise, I think (Statistics Canada) came out with 320,000 or 330,000 (acres projected) but I think that’s on the light end,” he said.
The market for mustard has strengthened slightly as well. Back in late February the spot price for yellow mustard was 36 or 37 cents per pound but now sits at 38.
Although the frost issue now sits centre stage, Marleau said the crops will also need some more rain at some point.
“Our area isn’t so bad, but you hear stories 30 miles away where it’s dry and guys are really looking for a rain,” he said.
— Dave Sims writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.
