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Numbers game
DURING THE SPRING, SUMMER
and fall, western Canadian farmers are
hard at work, planting, tending and, even-
tually, harvesting a number of important
crops. Here on the Prairies, if you drive
through enough rural areas and long
stretches of highway, you’ll likely see one
or more of the following crops in nearby
fields: wheat, barley, canola and pulses (a
term that encompasses a number of dried
legumes, including peas, beans, lentils
and chickpeas).
To grow these crops, farmers must play
a complicated numbers game. Each year,
they must navigate razor-thin margins to
find out how they can produce the most
crops with the least amount of input
costs—costs that you may not have ever
considered when using a loaf of bread to
make a sandwich or cracking open a cold
beer after a long workday.
To simplify this equation somewhat,
it is helpful to break things down on
a smaller scale, so let’s look at things
from the perspective of a single bushel, a
measurement of volume that is common
in agriculture. If you’re having a hard time
visualizing it, a bushel of grain, canola
or pulses is equal to about 10 gallons, or
roughly 35 litres—enough to fill a stand-
ard laundry basket. So, how much does it
cost to produce a bushel of wheat, barley,
canola or lentils? And how does a bushel
of each of those crops translate to a prod-
uct you can find at your local supermarket
or liquor store?
The input costs listed on these pages
include seed and seed treatment, fer-
tilizer, and fuel for machinery, as well
as fungicide, insecticide and herbicide
application. Trucking costs are accrued
while moving grain from the farm to an
BREAKINGDOWN THE COSTS BEHINDWESTERNCANADA’S TOP CROPS
elevator for sale. Keep in mind that the
input costs included here are not com-
prehensive, and that farmers must also
account for the cost of their land, crop
insurance, labour, storage, machinery
and machinery repair, among others fac-
tors, when determining their total costs
on an annual basis.
Also, remember that when you buy a
loaf of bread, a bottle of canola oil, a can
of soup or a case of beer, your money
does not go directly to farmers. While the
prices of these products reflect work done
at all levels of the value chain, the farm is
only one step in the process and each step
requires a separate transaction. As a result,
farmers only receive the price of the raw
commodity, which is much lower than the
price of the finished product. This is why it
is so important for farmers to get the best
price for their crop at market.
Top export markets for Canadian crops
Top Alberta
Agri-Food Export
Markets Overall
1.
UNITED STATES
2.
CHINA
3.
JAPAN
4.
MEXICO
5.
SOUTHKOREA
Canola (seed, oil andmeal)
– China, Japan, Mexico and the United States
Pulses
– India, China, Turkey, Bangladesh and the United States
Malting Barley/Malt
– the United States, Japan and China
Wheat
– Japan, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Peru
The Food Issue
2017
Grains
West
48
BY TYLER DIFLEY
CROP
COST