| | Overview | Turf Seed Exports | Legume Seed Exports | Forage Seed Exports | Summary
Overview
Canadian grass and legume seed exports continue to move in large volumes. After increasing exports 22.6% from 2005/06 to 2006/07, (by quantity), this past year saw exports decrease, but only slightly. However, the value of Canadian exports increased by 1.6% this past crop year. Canadian export volumes have exceeded 160 million lbs these past two crop years, with export value of grass and legume seed now at $141.9 million.
Turf grass seed exports, which include creeping red fescue, annual and perennial ryegrass, tall fescue, other fescue, and bluegrass, resulted in 60% of the seed moved, but only 46% of the value of total exports.
The USA remains the destination for the majority of our grass and legume seed exports. Of the total 163 million lbs of exported seed, 124 million lbs found its way south of the 49th (76% of Canadian exports). Only 6 other countries imported more than 1 million lbs of grass and legume seed from Canada, those being: Germany (9.77 million lbs, or 6.0% of total Canadian exports), Netherlands (8.3 million lbs, 5.1%), Italy (5.5 million lbs, 3.4%), China (4.9 million lbs, 3.0%), United Kingdom (2.5 million lbs, 1.5%) and Poland (1.0 million lbs, .6%).
Creeping red fescue seed continues to be, by volume, the biggest export crop (49.6 million lbs), followed by perennial ryegrass (38.6 million lbs) and then alfalfa seed (25.7 million lbs).
| Canadian Grass and Legume Seed Exports by Crop Year (July to June) & Quantity-lbs) |
 | 2002-2003 | 2003-2004 | 2004-2005 | 2005-2006 | 2006-2007 | 2007-2008 | Change |
| Total: World | 106,639,403 | 113,241,477 | 108,312,713 | 136,009,776 | 166,785,111 | 163,179,755 | 97.8% |
| Creeping red fescue - o/t cert | 26,542,882 | 26,264,908 | 28,989,869 | 43,695,261 | 45,139,089 | 39,423,837 | 87.3% |
| Creeping red fescue - cert | 13,385,177 | 12,192,805 | 17,057,349 | 10,449,003 | 4,489,958 | 10,173,967 | 226.6% |
Total Creeping Red Fescue | 39,928,058 | 38,457,714 | 46,047,218 | 54,144,265 | 49,629,046 | 49,597,804 | 99.9% |
| Rye grass, perennial | 5,218,814 | 6,270,643 | 9,852,696 | 17,750,153 | 33,973,837 | 38,638,100 | 113.7% |
| Alfalfa -o/t certified | 13,724,976 | 12,809,330 | 11,158,974 | 10,683,514 | 20,608,192 | 14,573,249 | 70.7% |
| Alfalfa - certified | 8,493,634 | 12,981,481 | 6,078,821 | 5,810,806 | 13,879,364 | 11,120,305 | 80.1% |
Total Alfalfa | 22,218,610 | 25,790,811 | 17,237,795 | 16,494,319 | 34,487,556 | 25,693,553 | 74.5% |
| Timothy - certified | 5,768,022 | 6,614,590 | 6,443,469 | 7,973,549 | 3,755,730 | 7,295,999 | 194.3% |
| Timothy - o/t certified | 6,258,434 | 6,054,822 | 4,369,688 | 7,168,711 | 2,763,870 | 792,808 | 28.7% |
Total Timothy | 12,026,456 | 12,669,412 | 10,813,157 | 15,142,260 | 6,519,601 | 8,088,807 | 124.1% |
| Red clover, nes | 4,236,899 | 4,229,935 | 2,730,423 | 4,072,714 | 4,519,509 | 3,934,461 | 87.1% |
| Fescue, tall | 4,830,703 | 4,285,107 | 2,909,224 | 2,277,070 | 3,185,885 | 3,705,002 | 116.3% |
| Rye grass, annual | 2,718,357 | 3,927,136 | 3,085,106 | 7,663,680 | 7,946,108 | 3,132,077 | 39.4% |
| Alsike clover | 1,286,313 | 1,542,841 | 1,454,469 | 2,040,514 | 2,409,518 | 2,935,757 | 121.8% |
| Wheatgrass, nes | 2,561,943 | 1,306,405 | 1,987,863 | 2,014,530 | 2,365,105 | 1,798,290 | 76.0% |
| Wheatgrass, crested | 762,028 | 1,400,093 | 1,149,771 | 2,656,985 | 1,196,530 | 1,669,580 | 139.5% |
| Bird's-foot trefoil | 971,732 | 1,345,401 | 1,001,553 | 1,232,884 | 1,200,821 | 1,427,760 | 118.9% |
| Blue grass, Kentucky | 764,277 | 1,148,675 | 998,195 | 1,700,571 | 1,073,398 | 1,409,447 | 131.3% |
| Red clover, double cut | 1,909,903 | 2,356,199 | 602,931 | 514,424 | 1,585,530 | 1,386,872 | 87.5% |
| Sweet clover | 1,206,602 | 1,630,661 | 979,805 | 1,276,677 | 1,328,570 | 1,064,911 | 80.2% |
| Brome grass, smooth | 844,363 | 300,868 | 509,031 | 1,525,842 | 490,538 | 787,864 | 160.6% |
| Fescue, nes | 605,458 | 959,682 | 886,126 | 966,149 | 997,291 | 712,158 | 71.4% |
| Fescue, meadow | 586,281 | 1,522,400 | 1,580,445 | 155,384 | 438,087 | 675,925 | 154.3% |
| Brome grass, meadow | 324,499 | 376,916 | 558,149 | 719,840 | 799,284 | 598,091 | 74.8% |
| Wild rye | 277,358 | 239,979 | 294,961 | 232,727 | 315,582 | 520,858 | 165.0% |
| Clover - nes | 261,969 | 681,506 | 373,825 | 506,515 | 314,442 | 212,813 | 67.7% |
| Clover - white | 256,799 | 274,095 | 202,132 | 127,643 | 267,455 | 200,448 | 74.9% |
| Brome grass, nes | 54,325 | 73,885 | 47,326 | 23,188 | 106,819 | 184,750 | 173.0% |
| Bent grass | 11,303 | 166,158 | 236,689 | 75,144 | 120,677 | 12,432 | 10.3% |
| Orchard grass | 12,908 | 203,268 | 80,774 | 95,318 | 54,393 | 10,838 | 19.9% |
| Seeds of forage plants, nes | 2,763,445 | 2,081,688 | 2,693,052 | 2,600,978 | 6,981,903 | 14,781,158 | 211.7% |
| Total: World | 106,639,403 | 113,241,477 | 108,312,713 | 136,009,776 | 166,785,111 | 163,179,755 | 97.8% |
| Source: World Trade Atlas | | | | | | | |
Turf Seed Exports
Total Canadian grass and legume seed exports continues to be dominated by the turf grass sector, with Peace River regions’ creeping red fescue and Manitoba’s and Saskatchewan’s’ perennial ryegrass seed crop exports totaling over 88 million lbs, over half of Canada’s total exports.
2007-08 saw creeping red fescue exports levels remain very high (49.5 million lbs). With annual average production around the 40 million lb mark, old inventory has been moved the last few years. Canadian creeping red fescue production these past two years has been down. Certified “creeper” exports were up substantially, with growers “re-certifying” fields again. Much of this new certified production, along with inventories in warehouses, landed in Europe.
Perennial ryegrass seed production continues to expand, with exports increasing again this past year (up 13.7%). Tonnage wise, perennial exports exceeded the 38 million lb mark, up 4.7 million lbs from the previous year. Almost all this production headed back to the USA (80%).
However, annual ryegrass production dropped off substantially, (down 61%); with only 3.1 million lbs exported last year (06-07 saw export levels @ 7.9 million lbs).
The other turf grass seed of note is tall fescue. Although tall fescue data is not specific to turf or forage varieties, most Canadian production is of the turf types. Tall fescue exports increased 16% last year. Canadian acres have increased, with exports jumping from 2.2 million lbs three years ago, to 3.1 million lbs two years ago, to 3.7 million lbs this past year. 77% of tall fescue exports were moved back into the USA (under contract to US companies).
The value of all Canadian turf grass seed exports was $65.6 million, with creeping red fescue and perennial ryegrass export values @ $33.2 and $25.4 million respectively.
Legume Seed Exports
Canadian legume seed exports fell 8.9% last year, lead by a drop in alfalfa seed exports by over 8.7 million lbs. Alfalfa seed exports fell over 25% to 25.7 million lbs. However, this export figure is still above the previous 5 year average of 23.2 million lbs. The 2006-07 year saw a whopping 34.5 million lbs of alfalfa seed exported, which was up over 100% from the previous year. However, the value received for our 07/08 export alfalfa was only down 16.1% (i.e.: prices received, on a per lb basis, were higher than from the previous year), resulting in export sales of $38.5 million. Over 83% of Canadian alfalfa seed exports ended up in the USA. China, which at one time purchased over 10.9 million lbs of alfalfa seed from Canada (01/02), imported less than 80,000 lbs last year.
| Canada’s other major legume seed crop, red clover, saw exports drop 13% to 5.3 million lbs. Production concerns in some Canadian regions are resulting in less acres being seeded. Total export value fell from $6.1 million in 06/07 to $4.9 million this past year. | |
| Alsike clover seed exports continue to show rising exports over the past 4 years. Last year showed a 21.8% increase in exports, up to 2.9 million lbs. Back in 04/05, only 1.4 million lbs was exported. Export sales of alsike clover seed has doubled over the past four years. |
Forage Seed Exports
After a disastrous 06/07 export year for smooth brome grass and timothy seed, exports are beginning to recover in 07/08. Unfortunately, figures are not kept for domestic consumption, so we can only guess at how much forage grass seed is seeded in Canada for our beef and dairy industry. However, timothy seed exports rebounded 24%, and smooth brome grass exports by 60%. Crested wheatgrass seed exports also rebounded, up almost 40% compared to year ago numbers. However, lower production of meadow brome has kept its exports down (600,000 lbs in 07/08).
One other export number to note is the amount of mixed seed now being exported. Listed as “seeds of forage plants, not elsewhere specified (NES)”, 2007/08 saw quantities increase from 6.9 million lbs (06/07) to over 14.7 million lbs. Canadian processors have taken to value adding and are now exporting more mixtures. What is in these mixtures is not recorded.
Who’s Buying?
The USA continues to be the primary destination for Canada’s grass and legume seed exports. With our farming areas close to US markets, American companies continue to contract production of various grass and legume seed crops in western Canada. With the turf grass market in the US enormous, Canadian production of creeping red fescue seed and perennial ryegrass seed is destined for this marketplace. A large majority of Canadian alfalfa seed exports also ends up in the USA, as does Canadian production of the wheat grasses. | Canadian Grass/Legume Exports to the USA
by lbs and % of CDN Exports |
To USA | Total Exports
(million lbs) | % to USA |
Total | 111.40 | 78.05% |
| CRF | 40.55 | 81.75% |
| PRG | 31.08 | 80.43% |
| Alfalfa | 21.40 | 83.32% |
| Alsike Clover | 3.00 | 34.10% |
| Red Clover | 2.95 | 55.56% |
| Tall Fescue | 2.88 | 77.84% |
| Other WG | 1.65 | 92.10% |
| Crested WG | 1.55 | 92.80% |
| Birdsfoot | 0.76 | 52.20% |
Canadian Grass/Legume Seed Exports
by Country | Although the majority of Canadian grass and legume seed exports land in the USA, 5 other countries imported more than 2 million lbs of Canadian grass and legume seed in the 07-08 crop year. These five countries, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, China and the United Kingdom, accounted for another 31.2 million lbs of Canadian grass/legume seed. Only 7.9 million lbs of Canadian grass/legume seed in total was imported by another 34 countries in the 07/08 crop year. |
| LB'S
(Millions of) | % of CDN Exports |
Word Total | 163.2 | |
| USA | 124.1 | 76.05% |
| Germany | 9.8 | 5.99% |
| Netherlands | 8.3 | 5.07% |
| Italy | 5.6 | 3.42% |
| China | 4.9 | 3.03% |
| United Kingdom | 2.6 | 1.58% |
| Other Countries (34) | 7.9 | 4.86% |
No one species dominates these Canadian grass and legume species into other countries. However, countries within the European Union can only import certified seed. Although Italian imports fell 28% this past year from the previous year, the other main importers increased their imports of Canadian seed (Germany up 27%, Netherlands up 59%, and China up 22%). Overall, Canadian grass and legume seed exports to these 5 countries were up by over 4.77 million lbs compared to the previous crop year.
Canadian Grass/Legumes Seed Exports (Millions of lbs) to Selected Countries
(07/08) by Species (note: specific UK data unavailable) |
Germany | Total Exports | Netherlands | Total Exports | Italy | Total Exports | China | Total Exports |
| Total | 9.77 | Total | 8.27 | Total | 5.57 | Total | 4.94 |
| Timothy | 3.10 | CRF | 2.83 | CRF | 1.10 | PRG | 2.59 |
| CRF | 2.20 | Timothy | 2.03 | PRG | 0.95 | Tall Fescue | 0.76 |
| Red Clover | 1.50 | PRG | 1.57 | Alfalfa | 0.91 | CRF | 0.34 |
| PRG | 1.20 | Alfalfa | 0.61 | Annual
RG | 0.80 | Red Clover | 0.24 |
| Alfalfa | 0.86 | Red Clover | 0.52 | Red Clover | 0.74 | Alsike Clover | 0.22 |
| Alsike Clover | 0.42 | | | | | | |
| Total Exports = millions of lbs |
| CRF = Creeping Red Fescue, PRG = Perennial Ryegrass |
Summary
With the world economy sliding into a recession, the importance of grass and legume seed in the overall scheme of things is an unknown. The turf sector may get hit hardest. But on the forage side of things, livestock (and further down the line, people) have to eat. However, how much they can pay for these products will not be known for a while. Presently (spring 2009), all forage seed processors are reporting quiet seed movement, and given the economic situation, this has been no surprise. Barring a huge, unforeseen turn-around, don’t expect any miracle exports to develop the rest of this crop year.
I think it’s safe to assume that, for this upcoming year, Canadian grass and legume seed exports will be down.
Prepared by David Wong, Market Specialist, Ag-Info Centre, Alberta Agriculture & Rural Development, Grande Prairie, AB |
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