The AgriPost
Manitoba Foodgrains Projects Shift to Harvest
August 30, 2024
Prolonged Heat Cuts Canada Crop Outlook By Elmer Heinrichs
Farmers from Landmark Foodgrains project taking off a field of wheat with proceeds going to feed hungry people around the world. Photos courtesy of Gordon Janzen
By Elmer Heinrichs When eight combines started moving back and forth across a 100-acre field near Landmark August 20 it marked the beginning – the first fall harvest of 41 such projects across Manitoba communities, says Gordon Janzen, Manitoba co-ordinator the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. The combines were there to take off a crop of wheat for the Land-
mark Foodgrains Bank growing project with proceeds from the sale of the crop going to feed hungry people. Project organizer Randy Plett, who farms oilseeds and grains near Landmark hopes to get about 75 bushels an acre off the field and another 60-acre parcel nearby that will be combined later. Inputs such as seed, fertilizer and chemicals are also donated
by area businesses, such as Richardson Pioneer, which was represented at the harvest by Becky Friesen, who was there with drinks, cookies and donuts for those harvesting the grain and the 25 or so who gathered to watch. Last year, the projects in Manitoba raised $2.6 million for the Foodgrains Bank. Canada wide, 190 growing and community projects
raised $8.2 million for the Foodgrains Bank last year. Funds generated by these projects and other donations are matched by the Canadian government at four-to-one, up to an annual cap of $25 million. The project in Landmark is made possible through support from the Prairie Rose and Heartland Community churches in Landmark.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), in its August report, says 2024-25 growing conditions deteriorated in western Canada throughout July due to prolonged hot and dry weather. As a result, overall yield expectations have been lowered from last month’s AAFC principal field crops outlook. In particular, yields are revised down for wheat and coarse grains (excluding corn which was revised up), while oilseeds and pulse and special crop yields remain unchanged. The yield for wheat, excluding durum, was reduced to 3.5 t/ha in this month’s report. Total production is estimated at 28.3 Mt, down 2 per cent. Considerable uncertainty remains when estimating crop yield and production at this time of the season. Harvest in western Canada has started and it is expected to move quickly as crops, in general, have advanced rapidly due to the hot and dry weather experienced over the month of July. Prices for most principal field crops are forecast to decline year-over-year, in line with lower world values. Uncertainty in the world’s grain markets remains elevated because of Russian aggression against Ukraine and other ongoing geopolitical risks.