HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1997-08-13, Page 23Bean Festiva!, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 1997 — Page 11A
The market
Producers try to out-
guess weather, prices
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which was fraught with untimely
precipitation when producers had
desiccated crops to ready the beans
for harvest," Huzevka wrote.
It turns out that not only is the soy
bean more marketable right now, but
also stands up to the wet fall weather
better.
Huzevka points out that while
white bean producers have planted
only 75 per cent of the acres they did
in 1996, land devoted to soy beans•in
Ontario will top 2.4 million acres —
a record.
So, the demand so far in 1997 for
white beans has not been what was
expected as carryover and a "chronic
weakness in white pea bean
demand" has forced the marketing
board into a less -than -aggressive
stance.
And Huzevka•remains cautious
about what is to come. •
"In spite of weakening old crop
values, (the) new crop has remained
relatively stable but may also suffer
from old crop fundamentals in the
short, term," he wrote.
Meanwhile, John Thompson Jr.
acknowledges the challenges facing
the industry in Ontario, but notes it
could change very quickly.
As marketing manager for W.G.
Thompson and Sons Limited —
which operates elevators across the
. province, including Hensall, and
buys and sells white beans — he
notes that increases in the West have
made up for the Ontario clawback,
but isn't counting on that trend con-
tinuing.
While he was expecting the bullish
soy bean market to turn out to be a
blip in the spectrum, the three-year
run has had more of an impact on the
industry than was forecast.
"The soy beans have been a hard
crunch to us," Thompson said. "A
When salivating over white beans in this rather tasty state at the
Bean Festival, it's easy to forget the marketing and strategy it
takes Just to get them out of the field.
lot of growers switched aver ... it's a
new generation of growers and they
want more marketing options."
But there is reason to be optimistic.
After last year's tough harvest, he
expects the fewer acres this year —
under better growing conditions and
hopeful for a favorable fall —will
produce comparable Ontario yields
as those in 1996.
And while Western provinces have
picked up the slack in national
acreage numbers for now, those
areas of the country are also more
susceptible to frost with their shorter
growing season.
Meanwhile in the U.S.. Michigan
producers have had similar troubles
as in Ontario and haven't benefitted
from the shortfalls in Canada.
"Tomorrow the whole table could
turn." Thompson said. "It looks
today like there's a lot of production.
but no one can really say for sure."