MarketsFarm — Canadian farmers planted more canola than earlier intentions, according to updated acreage estimates from Statistics Canada released Wednesday. Meanwhile, wheat plantings hit their highest level in more than two decades.
Total canola plantings were estimated at 22.1 million acres by the government agency, which compares with the 21.6 million expected in April and the 21.4 million seeded in 2022. That came in above average trade estimates which had generally called for a smaller increase on the year.
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Total wheat area, including durum and winter wheat remaining after winterkill, was pegged at 26.9 million acres, which was in line with the April estimate, but well above the 25.2 million acres seeded in 2022 and the largest wheat acreage since 2001.
Of the wheat total, spring wheat area was up by eight per cent on the year, at 19.5 million acres, and winter wheat was up by 20.1 per cent at 1.4 million acres. Durum area held relatively steady, rising only 0.5 per cent from 2022 at 6.0 million acres.
“Favourable conditions across Western Canada allowed producers to complete seeding in a timely manner,” StatCan said. In the east, planting also “progressed well due to favourable field conditions.”
Barley area was up by 3.9 per cent on the year, at 7.3 million acres, while oats fell by 35.6 per cent to only 2.5 million acres. That marks the lowest oats area on record going back over 100 years.
For pulses, lentil area at 3.7 million acres was down by 15.1 per cent on the year, while pea area declined by 9.7 per cent at three million acres.
Soybean and corn plantings were both up on the year, StatCan estimated. Soybeans increased by 6.8 per cent to 5.6 million acres and corn was up by 5.5 per cent at 3.8 million acres.
— Phil Franz-Warkentin is an associate editor/analyst with MarketsFarm in Winnipeg.
