Saskatchewan mustard crop poised for strong finish

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Published: August 20, 2019

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MarketsFarm — Mustard crops in southwestern and south-central Saskatchewan may have received enough rain to turn themselves around after a dry spring.

“The area south of Highway 1 saw a lot of rain this year,” said Kevin Hursh, executive director of the Saskatchewan Mustard Development Commission.

“They’ve seen a huge turnaround in their crop potentials.”

From May to July, the region south of Highway 1 largely improved by one drought class. Pockets of the region improved significantly by two or three drought classes, due to increased precipitation in certain areas.

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At the end of July, Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Agriculture crop report rated mustard crops as 43 per cent good, 45 per cent fair, and 12 per cent poor — a considerable improvement from 35 per cent good, 38 per cent fair and 27 per cent poor just two weeks earlier. At the beginning of July, only 37 per cent of the mustard crop was flowering.

As for prices, Hursh characterized them as “stable… There’s been a little bit of improvement, but no big changes.”

Prices for yellow mustard are between 35 and 37 cents/lb., according to Prairie Ag Hotwire.

— Marlo Glass writes for MarketsFarm, a Glacier FarmMedia division specializing in grain and commodity market analysis and reporting.

About the author

Marlo Glass

Marlo Glass writes for MarketsFarm from Winnipeg.

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