MarketsFarm — While the price of canary seed in Western Canada has come down over the past couple of years, there is optimism that acres devoted to the specialty grain will increase in 2023.
David Nobbs, pulse merchant for Purely Canada Foods in Saskatoon and former chair of the Canary Seed Development Commission of Saskatchewan, said after the price for the crop in Western Canada hit 57 cents per pound in the fall of 2021, a large surplus had pressured it since.
The high-delivered bid as of Friday was 39 cents/lb., seven cents less than one year ago, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire.
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“We simply had too much canary seed in the bins,” Nobbs said. “Too much product came to town and the market gradually came down.”
However, he also mentioned canary seed prices above 35 cents/lb. are historically high. Nobbs expects them to trend down to between 30 to 40 cents/lb. later this year, which could attract buyers from Mexico and the European Union, where half of Canada’s crop is exported.
“As we see the price of wheat come down, canary seed is very competitive (compared to wheat and durum) at 35 cents/lb.,” he said. “I think we’ll see more acres this year than last year.”
In last month’s production estimates from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Canadian canary seed production is projected for 159,000 tonnes, 32,000 more than last year, on 291,584 acres, a decline of 14,826 acres from 2021-22.
Nobbs believes those projections are sharp undercounts while also expecting a repeat of last year’s high yields in eastern Saskatchewan. He also cited many reasons for additional canary seed acres, such as lower seed costs and needing fewer inputs than wheat.
“We’ll see acres drift towards canary seed. It doesn’t have fusarium issues; it doesn’t have wheat midge issues; it doesn’t have grating issues. It’s an easy crop to grow,” he said. “That’s why I feel like acres are going up and that’s why our prices are going to trend down a bit more.”
— Adam Peleshaty reports for MarketsFarm from Stonewall, Man.
