Grainswest - Winter 2026

Winter 2026 grainswest.com 37 “I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t know winter wheat could yield that high.” —Mack Brummelhuis Water management has also become an important consideration. In drought years, when water supply is restricted, cereals allow Valgardson wiggle room and he prioritizes water for sweet corn, processing peas and sugar beets over cereals, the latter of which are less impacted by drought. Valgardson noted cereals provide diversity when disease tightens rotation options in peas or canola. Severe root rot in peas, for instance, necessitates an eight- to 10-year break. With no rotational restrictions, cereals offer versatility. Straw sales to feedlots can also provide revenue. On farms built around potatoes and sugar beets, farmers such as Valgardson use cereals to keep their systems running smoothly. On his land, cereals function less as standalone crops and more as a scheduling tool that helps him co-ordinate fieldwork, manage inputs and prepare acres for the demanding seasons ahead. Timing is an operational variable he manages closely. Beets require tightly scheduled sowing and harvest windows, and cereals give him the flexibility to spread labour and machinery demands across the growing season. They also help him sequence fields to suppress weeds ahead of high-value crops. Rental agreements also encourage cereals within the rotation. Valgardson explained that irrigated land rental rates often vary depending on the crops grown. Typically, cereals command lower rates because they are less taxing on the soil. Taking the crop mix into account, an agreement is typically averaged over the long-term. Cereals maintain good soil quality and ensure rented acres remain viable for future cropping decisions. On his farm near Vauxhall, van der Hoek recognizes the benefits cereals offer, but that they can also introduce challenges. When cereals occupied three of the five rotation years on his farm, herbicide resistance became a challenge, particularly with wild oats, a weed he noted is “very tough to control” in cereal crops. The limited herbicide choices for use with cereals eventually pushed him to introduce corn, which offered access to different herbicide groups and reduced pressure. Still, cereals remain indispensable. They help protect soil structure, reduce erosion after high disturbance crops and build soil organic matter. “We grow cereals because we have to,” he said. “If you want to be a long-term sustainable farmer, you need to have them in your rotation.” Near Vauxhall, Mack Brummelhuis farms 2,800 acres under many of the same pressures faced by Davie, Valgardson and van der Hoek, but his experience shows cereals can play a more strategic role when irrigation, pricing and rotational timing work in his favour. Whereas his grandfather grew mostly cereals, Brummelhuis’s rotation includes barley, dry beans, durum, hemp, hybrid seed canola, sugar beets, triticale, winter wheat and yellow peas. He rents land out to neighbours for potatoes, and trades acres back for bean or beet production. As crop options have expanded, the place of cereals within the farm’s rotation has changed with them. Most years, given high land values and operating costs, cereals do not generate strong returns on his farm. Most years they break even or operate at a loss. Brummelhuis structures his cost of production so high-value acres carry a greater share of the land expense. This creates room for cereals to play their agronomic role even when margins are tight. He prefers rental agreements of four-plus years to incorporate rotations that manage disease, residue and weed pressure. Winter wheat has been a notable bright spot in his employment of cereal crops. Newer varieties have performed well under irrigation, he said. In 2025 he saw yields of around 150 bu/ac on relatively low inputs. “I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t know winter wheat could yield that high,” he said. Winter wheat works well with timing, too. It lengthens the total harvest window, sets up a clean field for the next crop and is also one of the few cereals he grows that has made money. WELL-PLACED Cereals continue to hold their place on Alberta’s irrigated acres, even when they don’t directly drive revenue. On most irrigated farms, these crops are used as a practical tool that maintains a healthy rotation. This versatility will ensure cereals remain in the mix.