While drought in Western Canada cut canola production and supported worldwide prices, Australia’s canola crop had its best year ever.
The country produced an all-time best 5.035 million tonnes of canola, surpassing the record set in 2020-21 by 759,000 tonnes or 17.7 per cent, according to estimates from the Australian Oilseeds Federation’s November crop report. The total area harvested for canola was 7.24 million acres, 28.5 per cent more than the previous year, largely due to higher prices at the start of the growing season. The value of Australia’s canola crop is estimated to exceed A$4 billion (C$3.66 billion), also a record.
New South Wales and Western Australia, the two states with the greatest canola production in the country, both saw increases by 215,000 tonnes (18.7 per cent) and 740,000 tonnes (43.3 per cent), respectively. Most canola-growing regions in Australia received normal to above-normal amounts of rainfall. While South Australia experienced a dry start to its growing season, late-season rainfall helped improve the canola crop. Both South Australia and Victoria experienced slight declines in canola production despite slight increases in harvested acres.
