There was a time on the Canadian Prairies when wheat was the king in terms of importance as a crop.
Wheat commanded the majority of seeded acres for years, and that was simply in response to world demand for the high quality product produced. It was the major money maker for most producers.
Had I been writing this in the 1960s, it would have been hard to envision a time when wheat would not be the key crop here.
But, times do change.
Canola was created from rapeseed, and in a rather short period of time it has become the key crop. It is higher value, and while its production is more costly, meaning greater risk, it is the crop most producers now rely on as their cash generator.
While there is nothing to suggest the new king in canola will be going anywhere, and wheat while dethroned still accounts for a lot of acres, that may not always be the case.
One can envision more pulse crops in the future; peas, lentils, chickpeas, beans, as the world demand for plant protein grows. There is no doubt consumers today are enamoured with the idea of plant-based 鈥榝ake meat鈥� products and that is spurring interest, although whether it will be a long term love affair or a short infatuation is still to be determined.
It鈥檚 also interesting to follow new crop options as they develop. While most will remain fringe on terms of acres, at best filling a niche if a market develops, such crops do at least offer cash crop options on limited acres.
For example, canary seed has been approved for human consumption in Canada and the United States.
In the Canary Seed News Summer 2020 Darren Yungmann Chair of the Canadian Seed Development Commission of Saskatchewan noted, 鈥渟ince this authorization was granted, the board has worked on a variety of challenges such as soliciting a marketing company to identify future market and branding opportunities; enlisting the services of a professional to address the label extension of herbicides, fungicides and pesticides for human use Canary seed; identifying shelf life for storage; and stability testing for flour and groats.鈥�
And therein lies the challenge for a new crop. Growing it is often the easy part. Finding processors and markets is the greater challenge even if as Yungmann notes; 鈥渢he health benefits of Canary seed include its high protein content, a healthy oil profile and gluten free protein make-up.鈥�
Meanwhile producers stateside in Minnesota are growing some of the first intermediate wheatgrass developed specifically for human consumption.
Wheatgrass has traditionally been used to feed cattle, but there are indications it can find a market for human consumption.
Again no one is expecting wheatgrass to be the next canola, but rapeseed only made the jump in importance after a breeding breakthrough, so every development made might be a first step toward something that becomes far more significant for producers.
Calvin Daniels is Editor with Yorkton This Week.
