GrainsWest Spring 2018

BY LEE HART

rotation,” said Witdouck. “You can’t grow

back-to-back canola or any crop every

year, so you need that break. And growing

wheat or barley after a pulse crop or cano-

la produces exceptional yields.”

In central Alberta, Jay Bruggencate said

his farm targets specific markets, so it’s

natural to keep wheat and barley crops in

rotation. Yes, canola usually pencils out as

the number-one cash crop, but the cereals

have a good fit, too. “I don’t see wheat and

barley just as rotation fillers,” said Brug-

gencate, who farms near Lacombe with

business partner Mike Sulzle. They grow

yellow peas, canola, malting barley, winter

wheat and Hard Red Spring Wheat.

The winter wheat portion helps spread

the farm workload. It comes off early, pro-

vides early cash flow, usually has slightly

lower inputs, typically doesn’t require

drying and often moves quickly, so it can

be sold without storage.

The Hard Red Spring Wheat requires

extra management as Bruggencate and

Sulzle target a high-quality, high-protein

market. “We manage it more intensively,

with fertility and other inputs such as

growth regulators, hopefully producing a

high-quality, higher-value crop,” Bruggen-

cate said. With careful management, the

barley achieves malt quality most years.

Bruggencate is well aware of the

economics and the pressure to shorten

rotations to produce higher-value crops.

But he also knows that, for the sake of

reducing the risk of herbicide resistance

and disease pressure, longer rotations are

better. The farm now follows a three-year

rotation, but is working toward a four- or

five-year rotation.

Bruggencate is also running farm trials

with soybeans and considering other pulse

crops. With the risk of clubroot, he would

also like to try non-canola oilseeds.

In northeast Alberta, Bernie Klammer

at Vegreville said farmers can’t ignore

crop economics, but also have to keep best

management practices in sight. “It would

be tough to stay in business very long if

you don’t turn a profit,” said Klammer,

who includes wheat, canola, barley and

alfalfa forages in rotation.

“I’m in an area where disease pressures

are a concern,” he said. “A shorter canola

rotation increases the risk of clubroot, and

we are seeing a few more cases of Fusari-

um head blight in cereals. We can’t ignore

the fact that canola is the money maker,

but we also have to look for some options.”

Klammer said wheat is one option,

especially if he can produce high-quality,

high-protein Hard Red Spring Wheat.

Malting barley does make good economic

sense, and producing feed barley also fits

well with his diversified operation. Alfalfa

is also important—it feeds his cattle, but

also extends the rotation. He hasn’t grown

pulse crops recently, and the market news

from India didn’t change his mind for 2018,

but he may include peas in rotation for

2019. There is some interest in soybeans in

his area and he plans to try a plot to gain

some experience, but he figures the success

of the crop in central and northern Alberta

is still waiting on earlier-maturing varieties.

“The challenge is finding the balance,”

he said. “I just can’t look at the short-

term economics; I have to consider the

long-term impact of a rotation and pay

attention to best management practices.

Ideally, with canola, I should be following

a four- or even five-year rotation. But if

that’s not practical, the best management

practices I can apply are to use disease-

resistant varieties and fungicides as

necessary to reduce the disease risk.”

Market forces aren’t expected to

dramatically change crop rotations for

2018. With no compelling Cinderella-crop

opportunities, farmers will gear rotations

and management toward markets provid-

ing the best returns, while keeping good

agronomics in mind.

ALBERTAAGRICULTURE AND FORESTRYMAJOR CROP ACREAGE

ANDDOLLAR VALUES FOR HARVEST 2016

CANOLA

5.5

MILLIONACRES

WHEAT

(INCLUDING DURUM)

6.2

MILLIONACRES

BARLEY

2.6

MILLIONACRES

PEASAND

DRYBEANS

1.9

MILLIONACRES

VALUEDAT

$2.8 BILLION

VALUEDAT

$1.9 BILLION

VALUEDAT

$362MILLION

COMBINED VALUEOF

$900MILLION

Spring

2018

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