Wheat was once the crop which made the Canadian Prairies.
The region became known as the 鈥楤readbasket of the World鈥� for a reason. Producers here grew high quality grain which was ideal for bread, and the world wanted it.
But nothing stays the same forever.
Here on those same Prairies canola has emerged as the primary crop. It has done so for two reasons, which are connected.
World demand for vegetable oil continues to grow. That is not surprising as it is used in almost everything we eat, from an ingredient in baking and processed foods, to the fat which sizzles away cooking order after order of French fries, deep fried dill pickles and a host of other foods.
In the case of canola its make-up is such that it is a highly sought after veg oil option because of its healthier profile.
So demand has grown for canola perhaps more than even the general growth in veg oil demand, and that has increased grower interest in the crop.
Plant breeders took over at that point.
They have vastly improved canola through recent decades, which has not only increased yield potential, but has vastly changed the range over which canola can be successfully grown.
There are fields of canola grown now in areas that only a couple of decades ago it would have been considered folly to do so.
As canola interest has grown, wheat interest has waned.
There simply is not the demand for the crop that there is for canola. So while canola costs more to grow, and comes with more risks in terms of securing a crop, the potential for profit remains higher.
That leaves wheat on the Prairies something of a conundrum moving forward. It remains a crop farmers can produce well, but Canada is no longer the primary player in the market. In fact, the area around the Black Sea is now seen as a major export region, and with a large area of Russia one where wheat production could grow substantially with better varieties and production technologies.
This potential growth is set against a demand that is barely growing, which admittedly remains a strange reality as many remain hungry around the world. It is of course a reinforcement of the reality those most vulnerable and hungry have the least ability to buy food.
So the wheat sector is beginning to look at alternate markets, from wheat based cat litter to plastics made from wheat starch.
It is great to diversify demand, with the hopes that spurs competition for product and bolsters prices, but it also seems to run counter to the idea of farmers feeding a growing population.
In the short term farmers would no doubt benefit if new wheat markets were created, but long term humanity might be better served by addressing how to feed the hungry.
Calvin Daniels is Editor with Yorkton This Week.
