Uncertain price expectations and soaring fertilizer and fuel costs are cited as the reasons farmers are looking for the cheapest crops to put in the ground. Dry pea acreage is expected to reach a record 3.6 million acres across the prairies this year, a 16 per cent increase over last year. Besides the crop's lower input costs, many farmers say the pea's ability to eliminate the need to apply expensive nitrogen fertilizers is attractive. Peas are also growing in demand in domestic animal rations and are being exported to Western Europe in greater numbers. Canola producers report they intended to cut acreage to about 9.3 million acres, a drop of 2.8 million acres from last year and the lowest overall acreage since 1996.
Many farmers say the high costs associated with the oilseed are serving as a detraction.
Farmers like Smit say canola's fertilizer and chemical costs are only one part of what is making the crop increasingly avoidable. Comparatively lower inputs for wheat, coupled with market forecasts predicting a price increase in the near future are cited as the incentives for boosting the acreage to 20.9 million acres, up .8 million acres over last year. At the same time, the preliminary falling prices of durum and continued lower international demand is discouraging many farmers.