Manitoba's Growing Agri-food Industry

Cereal Grains, Oilseeds, Specialty & Forages Sector

• Traditional crops of canola and wheat occupy over 50 per cent of harvested crop area in Manitoba.
  
  
• Manitoba typically produces one-fifth of the national canola crop, 15 per cent of Canada's wheat production, one-quarter of the oats crop, 20 per cent of the rye crop, 10 per cent of the barley produced, over a third of the dry white bean crop, 15 to 20 per cent of the flaxseed crop, three-quarters of the fababeans produced and between 85 and 90 per cent of Canada's annual sunflower seed production.
  
  
• Manitoba has long been the centre of the grain trade and is the headquarters of James Richardson and Sons, Cargill Limited, the Canadian Wheat Board and the location of ICE Futures Canada.
  
  
• Manitoba has canola-crushing facilities in Altona, Harrowby and Ste. Agathe, producing oil for human consumption and meal products for an expanding livestock sector. A significant proportion of this production is destined for the export market.
  
  
• Manitoba is the largest producer of buckwheat in Canada. Buckwheat is one of the best sources of high-quality, easily digestible protein, high in carbohydrates and numerous minerals, vitamins and bioactive compounds. It's the perfect ingredient for a range of functional food and nutraceutical products.
  
  
• Manitoba has the capacity to process 200,000 tonnes (13 million bushels) of oats annually.
  
  
• Forage products are exported to the United States, Japan and South Korea.
  
  
• Timothy seed currently goes to the United States and a number of countries in the European Union.
  
  
• Over the past 10 years, forage seed exports from Manitoba increased from $36.0 million to over $47.0 million.

Opportunities to explore:

• Accessing new markets for oat products through greater nutritional awareness of the benefits of beta glucan
  
  
• Development of value-added baked products using flax, pulses, buckwheat or hemp as key ingredients
  
  
• Flax linoleum-flooring project, given current flax acreage
  
  
• Soybean crushing plant (Soybean acreage in Manitoba has been undergoing significant expansion, and soybeans grown for crushing are currently shipped to plants in North Dakota and Minneapolis.)
  
  
• Manitoba is ideally suited for expanded forage production. In addition to traditional feed uses, forage offers opportunities for extraction of base components

View the Commodities and Livestock & Poultry sections as well.

Food Processing Sector | Peak of the Market | Invest in Mantioba | Young Farmer Nominee Program