Manitoba farmers are facing some tough choices when it comes to squeezing a profit out of the crops they grow in 2016.
But the Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development annual crop production guidelines indicate there are still profits to be made in both conventional and organic production systems.
These estimates serve as useful reference but farmers are encouraged to plug in their own production costs and yield estimates to come up with a more accurate picture for their farms.
These budgets also show that although two production systems have remarkably similar total production costs for the major crops, the most profitable crop options differ. Flax is a dud for conventional farmers in 2016, showing a net loss of $17.52 per acre. But under organic production, it could generate a net profit of $161.76 per acre.
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Fall rye under organic production is showing a net loss of $37.37 per acre, whereas under conventional production it shows a small profit of $9.03 per acre. It will be difficult to make money growing buckwheat under either system this year. Under conventional production, it is showing a net loss of $65.30 per acre. Under organic that loss increases to $106.11 per acre.
Farmers can study these budgets in detail by going to these links:
- Guidelines for Estimating Crop Production Costs 2016
- Guidelines for Estimating Organic Crop Production Costs 2016
