Adjustments to a 'stubble' basis were based on provincial data. The crop budget tables show significant differences in variable costs between provinces and soil zones. To compare budgets across the provinces, custom work costs for Western Canada have been included in the chemical costs, while for Ontario, custom work costs have been apportioned to chemical and fertilizer costs. The 'other' cost category is used to assign a value to overhead expenses such as utilities, and in Ontario also expresses marketing fees. In Manitoba, the highest projected net return is for lentils, followed by spring wheat, peas, and oats.
Net returns are the lowest for flaxseed, feed barley, and canola.
Strong local feed demand and strong returns for malting barley will support barley production, and the margin for canola may be improved through more conservative input use. In the Saskatchewan brown soil zone, Desi chick peas, Kabuli chick peas, and lentils have the highest margins, but the increase in area seeded to these crops will be limited due to risks associated with special crop production. The projected net return for durum and yellow mustard are higher than spring wheat. Returns are lowest for feed barley. Returns from oats are the lowest.