The Rural Voice, 1999-02, Page 28ighe r priced ins 1V.9 could a ip . d o min
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Every August 20,000 people
crowd the Village streets of
Zurich, in the heart of
Ontario's bean -growing country, to
sample baked beans and help
celebrate the white bean. The way
bean acreage has been declining in
recent years, however, in future years
revelers might be eating beans grown
in Manitoba.
High prices for soybeans and corn
in recent years have made fields of
white beans a rare sight across the
traditional edible -bean growing areas
of Huron and Perth Counties. Huron's
production dropped to 14,636 tonnes
in 1997, down from 29,414 in 1993
while Perth dropped to 9,715 tonnes
from 18,017.
In 1998 only 35,000 acres were
planted to white beans in all of
Ontario, down from a peak of
160,000 in 1990. Meanwhile bean
production in Manitoba has
mushroomed to 50,000 acres last
year and is expected to increase again
in 1999 to 85,000 acres.
The westward shift in production
in Canada has been mirrored the U.S.
where Michigan, once the' world's
largest producer of white beans, has
steadily dropped from a high of
360,000 acres in 1987 to 165,000
acres in 1997 while Minnesota and
Dakota have increased production
from 153,000 acres in .1985 to
210,000 in 1997. Where once
Michigan and Ontario accounted for
two-thirds of North American edible
bean production, now they provide
24 THE RURAL VOICE
only about one third of production.
Ontario, by itself, once accounted for
one quarter of North American
production.
Martin Huzevka, general manager
of the Ontario Bean Producers'
Marketing Board says the crash in
Ontario production has come because
of competition from corn and
soybeans at a time when the market
cycles for these commodities and
white beans were out of sync. While
4
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soybean pric, e
t PO a es
Whit
earn; y
production to
ci
4 ►y 35,00Q A
aces in 1998
Jr,Y
soybeans were paying $10 a bushel
with an expected yield of 45 bushels
per acre, white beans were in
oversupply and at the low end of
their price cycle. Before soybeans, it
was corn that outpaid white beans.
But many expect the acreage of
white beans to bounce back this
spring as prices plummet for
soybeans and corn at a time when
white bean prices are hitting high in
the price cycle. The closing pool
price for the 1998 crop year is nearly
$30 for a 100 -pound bag of beans.
With the prospect of good prices, all
of the Bean Board's initial offering
of Partial Production Contracts
(PPCs) have been snapped up by
producers. On January 18 it
announced an additional offering of
50,000 bags worth of PPCs.
"We think acreage will double to
65,000 to 70,000 acres of
production," says Huzevka.
If predictions come true, says
Brad Ford, CEO of Cook's, one of
the biggest players in bean
processing, it will be a big step
forward but "I don't believe any of us
are naive enough to think we'll ever
go back to the old days."
Bob Fotheringham, a white bean,
producer through thick and thin, and
a director for district four (Huron and
Bruce Counties) of the Bean Board
wonders if the estimates might be
overly optimistic. Certainly soybeans
and corn will not be as attractive to
growers this spring as in past years
but a lot of land was planted to
winter wheat last fall and the amount.
of land planted to white and coloured
beans may depend on how that
acreage comes through the winter, he
says. Still, he expects acreage to
improve.
Skepticism was high at the
annual meeting of District 3
(Perth, Wellington, Grey and
Waterloo Counties) in Brodhagen in
December. As Huzevka, along with
panelists Sean McKenzie of the Great