Grow Mustard Newsletter

Message from your Chair

Moriah Andrews

Hello Saskatchewan mustard producers. I hope a safe harvest was had by all, and know that conditions in 2023 ranged drastically across the province. With that being said, there were record acres of mustard seeded throughout Saskatchewan, but would be surprised if the supply of brown, yellow, or oriental were in the ample category.

As the year progresses into fall, now is a good time for soil testing fields to know where nutrient levels are at going into the winter. A soil test report will indicate the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, potash, sulphur and many more nutrients. This allows for more accurate and informed decisions on fertilizer rates for the 2024 growing season. For soil testing needs, reach out to your local crop input retail or agronomist.

With the past few years of below average production across much of the province, and higher than normal input costs, I want to personally thank producers for their check off dollars. These funds have allowed for Sask Mustard to support the breeding of hybrid mustard varieties, explore and expand the use of mustard, and support research into advancing the agronomics of mustard in Saskatchewan.

In January we will be having our Annual General Meeting in Saskatoon, through both in-person and online platforms. Keep an eye on your email inbox for final details, and be sure to mark it in your calendars and I will see you there.

Cheers to the 2023 growing season and to Saskatchewan mustard producers!

Executive Director's Report

Rick Mitzel

As we are now in November it seems like summer passed quickly and that mustard growers are reflecting on the past year. This past year had its challenges again with a lack of moisture in most mustard growing areas. Statistics Canada was estimating about 635,000 acres of mustard would be planted in 2023 up from 555,000 acres in 2022. It will be interesting too see where the access end up but indications are that these numbers are accurate.

Mustard interest has increased over the past few years and we get a lot of calls on agronomy from growers. We recommend if you are considering growing mustard to go to the Sask Mustard Development Commission web site and go to the Mustard Production Manual it has a lot of good agronomic advice. One of the most common questions is about fertility for the new mustard varieties like AAC Brown 18 and AAC Yellow 80 as well as seed supply.

This past summer Mustard 21 had a booth at the Ag In Motion show and I would like to thank our staff for making the show a success. I would also like to thank the growers that stopped by the booth and took a look at our plots. The show was a success for Mustard 21 and the plots of AAC Yellow 80 and AAC Brown 18 turned out great. M21 is going to look at going back to the show for 2024 this winter.

Plans are being put in place for the SMDC board meeting Annual General Meeting on January 11, 2024 and this year again SMDC will have a hybrid meeting. That means growers can attend in person or by Zoom so we encourage everyone to try to attend and hear about what is going on in the mustard industry. This year we are lucky enough to have Chuck Penner back and he is always the highlight of our meeting with his outlook for the mustard market globally.

Once again SMDC would like to thank mustard growers for they check off funding and SMDC would like these mustard growers to know the money is being spend in key areas.

Mustard in the Market

Chuck Penner, Leftfield Commodity Research

It’s been another challenging season for mustard growers. Prior to seeding the 2023 crop, decent moisture conditions provided a bit more optimism and mustard plantings increased to 637,000 acres, the most since 2004/05. That optimism didn’t last long though, as follow-through rains didn’t show up. Ongoing drought in the main growing areas has now resulted in sub-average mustard yields several years in a row.

Read the Report