BY: Daryl Domitruk, Executive Director, MPSG
The winter extension season wrapped up amidst a general sense that farm business risks or, at least, uncertainty were mounting on multiple fronts. Still, growers seemed reluctant to commit to big adjustments in their cropping programs. Some crops are a bit more under the microscope — more growers are checking out food-grade soybean contracts. However, overall, no big shifts are happening to crop production practices. Change, especially abrupt change in response to crisis, can elevate risk and, as this edition of Pulse Beat discusses, the resulting stress can impact everyone and everything.
Against the current kaleidoscope of risks, it struck us how the focus areas chosen by Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers (MPSG), can mitigate risk in some areas as producers ramp up attention to others. Perhaps, in this way we can help balance out risk and its associated stresses.
Recently, our policy and advocacy role more often in the background, took on greater urgency as we worked with partners to think through tariff scenarios. We went so far as to host a delegation of American soy growers and their national export agency. The focus was trade – Manitoba soybeans going to crush plants in North Dakota with meal backhauled to hog barns in Manitoba. Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn did a great job facilitating the conversation. The risk to both sides from tariffs clearly coloured the mood but, the desire to promote rather than impede this mutually beneficial trade was strong.
The soybean crush story served a positive purpose is the many group discussions about tariffs convened by the province and by Keystone Agricultural Producers. Just sensing that Manitobans are on the same page provided an antidote to our collective risk-induced stress.
The tariff topic was in the background during our visit with the board of Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation (MASC). Of course, a visit to MASC is, by definition, about risk. This time we found common ground in opportunities to review seeding date deadlines for dry beans and to seek improvements to coverage for food-grade soybeans. Relations with MASC directors and management are collegial and there’s a real sense of pulling in the same direction.
On the research side projects such as drought tolerance, root rot resistance and new work on choosing fungicides wisely took on urgency in the context of mounting risks. Ongoing work to develop new crop options such as adzuki bean, food-grade soy and faba bean is being pursued with renewed gusto as the mission to diversify markets comes to the fore. Pulses as a family of crops have a lot to offer an economy seeking to broaden it market base.
Introducing new crop options and optimizing variety selection in existing crops is an area we believe MPSG can excel. To that end, one of our staff agronomists Jennifer McCombe-Theroux will be making this the focus of her work. Watch for messages from McCombe-Theroux about the location of 2025 variety trials in your area.