Farmers will have plenty of profitable choices when they determine what to plant this spring.
According to the Saskatchewan Crop Guide, all major crop and all specialty crops will return over variable costs with nine major crops returning a profit over variable and fixed costs.
Variable costs include items such as seed, fertilizer, chemicals, fuel, repairs, interest and insurance. Fixed costs include return on investment in land, buildings, overhead and depreciation.
The guide estimates suggest farmers may increase acreage in durum wheat, canola, lentils, flax, and possibly spring wheat.
The crop guide makes an allowance for returns to owner labour or management.
In the brown soil zone among cereal crops, durum wheat leads profitability returning $21 an acre over fixed and variable costs.
Feed barley returns are estimated at $4.70 an acre over all costs.
Spring wheat returns $61 an acre over variable costs but loses $63 an acre on fixed costs.
Among oilseeds, canola will return $106 an acre over all costs while flax will net $88 an acre.
Three varieties of mustard will return between $56 and $91 an acre over all costs.
Sunflowers will net $149 an acre.
In the pulse crops large green lentils will net $108 an acre, small greens will net $176 per acre with red lentils netting $94 an acre.
Among the main specialty crops, corn nets $37 an acre, pinto beans do $15 an acre; canary seed, $126 an acre; camelina, $131 an acre; and coriander, $67 an acre.
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
