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SHESAID, THREESAID
BY SARAH WEIGUM
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Byron Jaques,
Buffalo, AB
I’m growing Hard Red Spring (HRS)
wheat because it’s the best combination
of marketing and agronomy for our farm.
I took a December futures contract early
on—wishing I'd locked in my basis as
well. Due to price and movement concerns
I have cut close to half my cereal acres,
allowing a good portion to be priced.
Essentially, my focus has been on HRS
for the past 10 years. Increased yields of
Canadian Prairie Spring (CPS) and soft
wheat don’t make up for the incurred
price discounts. As well, with durum I
have issues with getting a good grade.
CDC Go is a popular variety on irrigation
and that’s what I grow; consistent high
yield and grades of No. 1 or No. 2 are my
main reasons.
With more than a handful of classes to choose from, deciding what wheat to put into
the ground can be a tough decision. Farmers need to constantly look at their grow-
ing conditions, soil and climate type, market potential, and if it’s needed as a crop
rotation to break up pest and disease cycles.
Three Hills-area farmer and writer SarahWeigum asked three Alberta farmers:
How do you decide what type of wheat to plant?
Jason Craig
Delburne, AB
We’re going to grow some soft white
spring (SWS) wheat this year because of
the higher yield and to get some diversifi-
cation in wheat. It seems like everybody
grows CPS now, so I'm going to try and
grow something di erent. I talked to a guy
at Permolex [ethanol plant in Red Deer]
and he thought the price for SWS wheat
would be around $5 per bushel. He wasn’t
concerned with quality issues, as long as
the starch levels were good. If we reach our
yield goal of 100 bushels per acre, it should
be fairly profitable.
SWS wheat is supposed to stand up a lot
better so we can give it a lot more fertilizer.
As for Hard Red Spring, we’re going to go
with AC Stettler again this year. It seems
to hold its grade well. You always get No. 1
or No. 2 with it, whereas our other wheat
usually grades a No. 2 or No. 3 in this area.
Dan Doll
Fairview, AB
Many of my neighbours have switched
to CPS, but so far I’m sticking with Hard
Red Spring. My biggest issue, as a small
farmer, is not having a lot of storage, so I’d
rather have a lower-volume and higher-val-
ue crop.
Feed grains are a tough way to try
to make a living up here: we’re too far
from feeders and ethanol plants. Volume
doesn’t have as much of an advantage
when you take freight o it. This year, I
am questioning that decision.
My protein is all at 11 per cent and, be-
cause there’s not much high-protein wheat
in this area, it’s hard to move. I’m seeing
that some of the CPS wheat is moving
faster than the low-protein HRS.
I have to max my production per acre. I
hoped to do it on quality, but I may have to
go the other way and do it on quantity.
Spring
2014
grainswest.com
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