With spring seeding only two months away, the word in the local farming community is that there will be less soybeans planted in the region.

Marc Hutlet of Marc Hutlet Seeds in Ste. Anne expects the amount of corn seeded in 2019 will be similar to 2018 or higher. He notes wheat will be a popular choice for producers as there have been some historic yields over the past couple years. Hutlet adds we could also see more canola planted noting it has performed more consistently than soybeans.

"Beans like a lot of water, especially in August," explains Hutlet, "the last two years have been predominantly dry or less than our average rainfall so bean yields are average and maybe not returning as much per acre as they had previous to the last couple years."

However, he does expect soybeans will rebound at some point if we get significant moisture in the ground. Hutlet adds soybean prices are also down, mostly affected by international trade.

"With that being said, it's nice to see a balanced attack from the producers and having an array of different crops out there. That really balances your risk portfolio and really, in the overall picture, three or four years ago there were too many beans. People were seeding beans on beans or heavily rotated fields with beans so really it's a good thing."

Hutlet says the snow we have gotten this winter is welcomed and adds it will be put to good use come spring.