'Year of the farmer' on the horizon: analyst

A massive shortage of wheat on the global market is setting the stage for what some market analysts say could be a "once-in-a-career" windfall.

The stage is being set for record-high prices for Prairie farmers, said Mike Jubinville, a market analyst with ProFarmer Canada, a Winnipeg-based company that helps farmers decide when is the best time to market their commodity.

Wheat supplies in the U.S. are expected to fall to 60-year lows by the end of May, the global inventory of grains continues to decrease as aggressive demand for high quality, high protein wheat is soaring, particularly in Asia, Jubinville told CBC News on Friday.

"In nominal terms, we're looking at prices that have never been achieved before on these various commodities, and obviously that's created a great deal of enthusiasm in the farm community," he said.

The last major rally on wheat was in 1996, Jubinville said, when it sold for $7.50 a bushel. Wheat is currently being traded at $19 a bushel, and the market value of canola has more than doubled.

The profit potential for farmers is improving to levels that haven't been seen in decades, he said.

"This is, in my mind, one of those once-in-a-career years, that profits this year can make up for a fair number of bad years," he said.

"It seems like you almost can't go wrong growing any individual crop, and we're just trying to find the ones that have the potential to will make us the most money."

2008 will be the "year of the farmer," he predicted, a dramatic change from recent years, when farmers, plagued by early frost, delayed seeding and drought, seemed to lose money no matter what they grew.