There are finite acres on every farm, and even in terms of the overall land base in Western Canada, that means when new crops arise and attract production interest, other crops have to see fewer acres planted.Certainly for most of the last 20-years a key focus of Canadian agriculture has been diversification. It has been a rare situation in that government has promoted the concept, and farmers have actually been rather self-motivated to go in the same direction as they have sought out crops which hold the promise of greater returns.In some cases the process of looking for alternate crops has been hugely successful. A case in point in the growing pulse crops sector.Pulse crops are an area which farmers have adopted for some very simple, yet important agronomic reasons.In terms of production the nitrogen fixing ability of pulse crops is seen as a bonus since it can reduce the input costs of fertilizer.The sustainability aspect of fixing nitrogen is also likely to make pulse crops a more favourable choice for many consumers in the future.The resulting crop also has some versatility in terms of marketing. On one hand pulses are widely consumed by major population groups around the world. As an example lentils are a staple food in India, and that country's growing economy and population means there is demand for the crop.In instances where food demand softens for any reason, pulses can be used in livestock rations as a protein source.So the pulse sector has done well.By contrast the idea of growing spices, coriander, caraway and others, has been less successful. The crops have limited markets, and the supply/demand cycle can be sent into price crashes based on relatively small fluctuations in seeded acreage.Whether crops tried for reasons of diversification have proven good, or have basically become fringe crops, whenever acres are devoted to something new, other crops face decline.Initially acres were found as farmers moved away from summerfallow to continuous cropping, but that is no longer the case.As a result we see tried-and-true crops such as barley facing significant acreage declines, about 30 per cent in the last decade.The barley decline has to be troubling in the sense that if the trend were to continue it could impact Canada's ability to fill its long term markets for the crop. In the case of barley there are three main markets, two of those domestic.In terms of Canadian sales there is barley destined for malt and the beer industry.Then there is the livestock feed sector. We have often read about how ideal the Canadian Prairies are for livestock production based in part on the availability of feed. As barley acres shrink the feed advantage could be choked away.On a production note, barley is also one crop with well-understood agronomics and those agronomics suggest the likelihood of mass losses are significantly less on barley than most of the diversification options.Farmers need to find balance in acres which allows established crops to hold established markets, while still exploring options to expand farm returns.
