Maritime Farms?

[CodFather]

Greetings all,
With this great commodity boom for Wheat and Barley and Canola, I was wondering if any western Canadian Farmers have thought of trying their hand farming or contracting out to farm in the maritimes?

I know I've seen barley growing down there, but will wheat and canola, and the right types at that, grow? Is the climate and soil condusive? Elevators are few and far between, but there are railway sidings that could serve to load producer cars and a grain terminal at the Port of Halifax. Given these challenges, there is one advantage: No Canadian Wheat Board.

Thoughts?

[per]

Haven't given any thoughts to your questions but was wondering what that red (so I have been told) soil was like? It is thin and black here and smells like dirt. Could you give us the agronomic 411?

[CodFather]

So I did a little digging and asked some questions and here is what I found out about wheat, barley, and canola farming in the maritime province of New Brunswick:

New Brunswick has a program for farm land reclamation through the Department of Agriculture and Aquaculture. It paid up to 35% assistance to a maximum $7500 per eligible applicant to clear and develop agricultural lands. 120 projects were approved for land clearing, land leveling and field consolidation in 2007-08. This was the first time in many years that the province ran such a program, there has been no decision on this type of initiative for the 2008-2009 year. The province is also working on developing an inventory of abandoned farmland in New Brunswick, with the intent to establish a policy for its development.

Grain varieties traditionally produced in Western Canada tend to produce higher yields when grown in the Atlantic region however, there can be some quality issues due to the higher moisture conditions in the Maritimes. New Brunswick has about 70,000 acres in grain production. There is also close to 50,000 acres under cultivation for potatoes, which require a rotational crop (an additional 100,000 acres). Producers are looking at grains or canola as a rotational crop as well as timothy and red clover. Canola is used in the rotation with potatoes but the two plants also share some diseases.

The way I see it:
1. potatoes needs rotational crops
2. farm land available to be pressed back into use
3. possible government program to restore agriculture fields
4. some folks willing to sacrifice wheat quality for quantity
5. NO CWB MONOPOLY
6. bullish commodity market for this stuff
7. producer car sidings and spurs available if there are no elevators
8. FOB in Halifax & McCain's in the region

could bode very well for increased wheat production in the Maritimes