Canary Seed

[Right-arm fast]

Have had an email through from premium crops about canary seed. According to them its the easiest crop to grow with the biggest margin = best thing since sliced bread.

Has anybody grown it just wondering whether it was worth looking at as our Linseed was a disaster this year.

Thanks

 

[teslacoils]

Several grower threads on here re canary seed. My 2p - don't bother.

 

[ajd132]

Like all niche crops, don’t bother. Boom or bust.

 

[Fendt]

Grew 40 odd acres for them last year.
I would have to say it looked a picture all through the summer, was easy to establish and grow.
However, we had a stormy day in July, as we usually get at some time or another, 90% of it went from 6ft tall to 6 inches tall. It did combine relatively easily though and we actually thought the sample was good. But.... the yield was considerably less than they had indicated in all their press releases, and when it came to collecting it from the farm they found every possible excuse to have it taken to their central store, dried, cleaned, etc for another £40 per tonne. We eventually hired a mobile seed dresser on to the farm to shut them up enough that they would load it direct off the farm to the buyer. Absolute hassle and wouldn’t grow it again. Not profitable at all.

 

[teslacoils]

Can we summarise then, that the answer to "should I grow canary seed?" is

NO.

 

[spin cycle]

is canary seed the same as millet?.....i think there could be a farmer to farmer nic market for ab 12 stewardship bird food

 

[teslacoils]

is canary seed the same as millet?.....i think there could be a farmer to farmer nic market for ab 12 stewardship bird food

No. Different. Canary seed rules actually stop you doing that sort of thing. It's a closed shop. And from the views of everyone I know who has grown it (and golden linseed too) it's actually a closed shop where the doors are closed behind you; the only item in the shop is vaseline; and customer service comes in the form of an industrial rodgering.

 

[Fendt]

Agree 100%! Will not go near the crop or the company again.

 

[Daniel]

I wouldn't say that Premium Crops lie about Canary Grass, what it will yield and the margin it will return but.... what was Alan Clarks phrase? They are economical with the actualité.

We haven't had last years collected yet, but unless it weighs like lead shot it has way underperformed.

 

[Tractor Boy]

From my experience Premium crops use the same calculator as Triton drills and Dianne Abbot when working out their marketing figures.

 

[warksfarmer]

Have had an email through from premium crops about canary seed. According to them its the easiest crop to grow with the biggest margin = best thing since sliced bread.

Has anybody grown it just wondering whether it was worth looking at as our Linseed was a disaster this year.

Thanks

Don’t bother. It never yields anywhere near what they say. They will then try everything to knock the price down after harvest. Moisture, admix etc. Iirc we had 32t off 50 acres. Our samples sent in tested at 14.5% moisture so they wanted to ship it to a drier. We left it a couple of weeks, did absolutely nothing with it and sent another sample in. This time it miraculously was the right moisture! You can make more out of it by selling it as bird food mixer ‘apparently’.

 

[ArableMan123]

From my experience Premium crops use the same calculator as Triton drills and Dianne Abbot when working out their marketing figures.

I grew Canary back in 2017 and managed 1.4t/ac. I don't believe pc lie about what the crop yields, I have a few friends who also yielded well and managed to make the crop particulary profitable as a break. Bad news travels faster than Good news on this forum. I say do a small acreage to dip your toes in, actually put it in a decent bit of land and treat it as you would your wwheat and listen to their agronomists that have worked with the crop for years. You might be surprised. Also regarding the quality of the crop these companies ask for. They have an end user they sell the crop too, if the crop is full of sh*t no wonder they will ask it to be sorted.

 

[teslacoils]

Good thing I've got a huge supply of popcorn to hand.

Always welcome new members, especially when their first posts are so interesting and informative.

So my starter for ten would be, how many years experience have the premium crops agronomists got with canary seed exactly?

 

[ArableMan123]

I've always been quite happy browsing these forums without adding my opinion, thought I might just mention my own experience in this case.

I think just under 10 years now one of the aggro was telling me.

 

[Tractor Boy]

I grew Canary back in 2017 and managed 1.4t/ac. I don't believe pc lie about what the crop yields, I have a few friends who also yielded well and managed to make the crop particulary profitable as a break. Bad news travels faster than Good news on this forum. I say do a small acreage to dip your toes in, actually put it in a decent bit of land and treat it as you would your wwheat and listen to their agronomists that have worked with the crop for years. You might be surprised. Also regarding the quality of the crop these companies ask for. They have an end user they sell the crop too, if the crop is full of sh*t no wonder they will ask it to be sorted.

How long have you worked for premium crops then?

 

[Midnight plough boy]

IMO you’ll be lucky to hear from / see a PC agronomist as they probably will never visit your field, even though they promise prior to growing that they’ll be all over it. It’s a relatively easy crop to grow. Mircam Plus is really the only option for weed control, plenty of chlormequat so it doesn’t reach its full height. Atlantis or Topik to take it out of the following wheat crop. Always wear a mask when handling seed or the finished grain as the dust is particularly nasty and has been known to hospitalise with respiratory problems if working in a confined space with the dust (dryer barns etc). Prepare seedbeds early to conserve moisture, pray for moisture once it’s drilled. Pray even harder that they will pay out with no quibble once it goes on a lorry. I say “once it goes on a lorry”, what I really mean is get to the movement date and then have to phone twice a week for the next four to six months to get them to send a lorry to pick it up.

 

[Phil P]

We’ve had a couple of visits from the PC Agro and regularly get a call to see how it’s going (someone called yesterday actually) not had an issue moving or getting paid either so can’t really complain. Never get rich growing the stuff like but it’s a cheap break crop which is what we want.

 

[warksfarmer]

I grew Canary back in 2017 and managed 1.4t/ac. I don't believe pc lie about what the crop yields, I have a few friends who also yielded well and managed to make the crop particulary profitable as a break. Bad news travels faster than Good news on this forum. I say do a small acreage to dip your toes in, actually put it in a decent bit of land and treat it as you would your wwheat and listen to their agronomists that have worked with the crop for years. You might be surprised. Also regarding the quality of the crop these companies ask for. They have an end user they sell the crop too, if the crop is full of sh*t no wonder they will ask it to be sorted.

How much have you been paid to write this? Free seed maybe!

 

[Right-arm fast]

How much have you been paid to write this? Free seed maybe!

Yes, you never know who's behind the computer. The seed costs are astronomical for these niche crops. I'll bet seed sales make Premium Crops nearly as much money as the crop itself and the farmer takes all the risk which now Neonics have gone is considerable!! All premium crops have to do is sell the idea of the perfect spring break crop over the phone!! Its all a load of bull.

 

[Phil P]

Yes, you never know who's behind the computer. The seed costs are astronomical for these niche crops. I'll bet seed sales make Premium Crops nearly as much money as the crop itself and the farmer takes all the risk which now Neonics have gone is considerable!! All premium crops have to do is sell the idea of the perfect spring break crop over the phone!! Its all a load of bull.

I got a call of PC the other week to discuss 2020 canary seed, on question they asked was if I thought it would yield better if sown thicker. I replied, not at the price of seed it won’t!