MarketsFarm – Ten representatives from companies buying or producing organic crops took part in a webinar discussing the markets for those crops hosted by SaskOrganics on Oct. 27.
The marketing webinars, which are held bi-annually before spring seeding and after harvest, are designed to connect organic grain buyers and producers as well as provide information on pricing and contract information to each other.
Representatives answered from a list of questions handed out before the start of the webinar, which ranged from crop needs to dockage allowances to trucking to market predictions for 2023. The webinar was moderated by SaskOrganics board secretary and former Western Producer contributor Will Oddie. All 10 companies which took part in the webinar also sponsored the event.
Read Also
U.S. livestock: Feeder cattle extend rally to new highs
Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures extended gains to record highs on Wednesday while live cattle futures set a contract high before pulling back.
Dwayne Lee, a Winnipeg-based general manager of Growers’ International Organic Sales Inc. (GIOSI), said wheat yields this year were much higher than in the drought year of 2021, but carryout will remain small.
“Supplies are maybe not largely different year-by-year,” he said. “The (organic) market feels generally pretty balanced…I would say it feels we’re a little bit rangebound. Not overly bearish, not overly bullish.”
Clarence Shwaluk, director of farm operations for Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods, said “traceability”, which allows a grain buyer to know where the crop came from, is a strong selling feature. However, finding the right price for consumers can be challenging.
“We do try to follow commodity pricing. We do realize that being a specialty crop, we want to make sure that hemp returns a little bit more per acre than some of the more common crops that are grown out there organically,” he said. “We’re just about to finalize (our price), but we do need to realize our retailers are pushing back, as well.”
Mike Gallais, director of procurement and general manager of the Avena Foods pulse processing plant in Rowatt, Sask., believes there is “stability” in organic markets for 2023.
“In other years, some of our green pea customers would start taking peas in December or later, but they’ve been actually pulling since September. So we’re seeing good demand,” he said.
Ben Howrigan, a Vermont-based salesperson from F.W. Cobs Company, mentioned that rail movement has been slower than in previous years and echoed Gallais’ sentiment of stability despite a high U.S. dollar.
“It was kind of a mixed bag of a (soybean) crop in Saskatchewan. The demand still seems pretty high for corn and beans, which with the prices being where they are always creates a lot more demand for small grains to kind of supplement the rations as well. That’s why we’re seeing the barley and rye and demand for wheat as well,” Howrigan explained.
Alex Galarneau, owner and operator of Prairie Heritage Seeds (PHS) in Radville, Sask., said it was a “good crop year” in Western Canada with organic crop prices still high despite coming off last spring’s levels. He said 80 per cent of PHS’s grain is exported outside Canada with a low Canadian dollar keeping prices high. However, a high U.S. dollar is also raising freight costs, while supply chain concerns and labour shortages remain pertinent.
“Overall, we’re working through it and we’re finding a way,” Galarneau said. “My standard line is, ‘Put your sunglasses on, because the future’s still bright.’”
Other participants in the webinar were Carolyn Crawford of Mumm’s Sprouting Seeds located near Parkside, Sask., Bailey Ogilvie from Scoular Canada, Ken Richmond of O&T Farms based in Regina, Bill Longman from Sunrise Foods International and Kelly Cornelius from Grain Millers Inc.
