The cost of certified cereal seed is up and will likely keep climbing in the coming year, says a provincial market analyst.
In an Agri-News article in mid-February, Ryan Furtas said barley seed prices shot up eight per cent in a month and are now 26 per cent higher than the five-year average. The price for certified wheat seed has also increased, but at a more modest pace and is “just” nine per cent higher than the five-year average.
“Wheat prices have not increased as dramatically as barley in the past six months,” Furtas said in the article. “The warm, dry growing season led to good-quality seed in 2021. The previous years of 2019 and 2020 had higher seed volumes produced, but also had higher instances of disease and relatively lower germination rates.”
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Currently, the average wheat seed price is $62 per 100 kilograms while certified barley seed cost has jumped to $54 per 100 kilograms.
“High cash prices and low yields throughout the Prairie provinces are the main driving factors of the cereal seed cost increase,” said Furtas. “Despite the low inventories, 2021 cereal seed is good quality, with samples of each showing relatively strong germination and very low instances of disease such as fusarium.”
There’s not a lot of data on use of certified seed. One oft-cited study dates back to a survey done in 2004 that found saved seed was sown on 70 to 80 per cent of Prairie cereal acres.
But many producers used certified seed on some of their acres, said Furtas.
“There are several good reasons to use certified seed,” he said. “The primary reason is to gain access to new varieties with improved genetics. The cost of certified seed can be offset with improved yields, harvest advantages and lower instances of disease.”
