For some Canadian farmers, especially those in certain parts of Saskatchewan, it’s been a pretty wet year. For other agricultural producers, it’s been a terribly dry year.Ìý
In both instances, the weather conditions have hampered crop yields, but still, the Canadian farmer has persevered and, it appears as if, there are more than a few bumper-like crops being harvested.Ìý
Wheat, barley and lentil production is expected to increase this year while crops such as canola, soybeans, corn and oats could show slight declines.Ìý
Overall, wheat production is expected to reach, and perhaps exceed 30.5 million tonnes this crop year, which will represent a 10.5 per cent increase compared with last year’s production. It will be only the second time in 25 years that wheat production will exceed 30 million tonnes, said a recent Statistics Canada report, based on Canada-wide surveys taken just as traditional harvest seasons began. The only other time wheat production reached this level was in 2013.Ìý
One of the reasons for the significant increase in the wheat production is due to the fact that average yields of just under 49 bushels per acre, represent a per-acre yield increase of 14.3 per cent compared withÌý 42.8 bushels per acre in 2015. Harvested areas declined 3.3 per cent to 22.9 million acres, the lowest level in five years.Ìý
The increase in wheat production is seen to be most evident in Saskatchewan, Alberta and Ontario.Ìý
Saskatchewan farmers anticipate production to rise 5.1 per cent to 13.7 million tonnes, despite the harvested area declining by nearly one million acres to 11.9 million acres this year. The gain in total wheat production is buoyed by a five bushel per acre increase.Ìý
Producers in Alberta expect an even greater increase in wheat production, up by 15.4 per cent to 9.6 million tonnes, the result of a 15.6 per cent rise in average yield to 53.4 bushels per acre. The area harvested to wheat in Alberta is expected to be about the same as 2015, at around 6.6 million acres.Ìý
In Ontario where a lot of winter wheat is grown, the anticipated production increase is expected to be 66.7 per cent from a year earlier, to 2.6 million tonnes. There was a higher reported harvest area of 1.1 million acres, an increase of 42 per cent and on the expected record average yield of 89.2 bushel per acre, which represents an increase of over 17 per cent.
Manitoba farmers reported a 2.9 per cent decrease in wheat production this year with 4.1 million tonnes with a harvested area decrease of 4.4 per cent to 2.9 million acres. Yields in Manitoba edged up slightly (1.6 per cent) to 51.1 bushels per acre.Ìý
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Canola
Canadian farmers expect to bring in about 17 million tonnes of canola this season, down 1.2 per cent from 2015. The national average yield is projected to be about the same as last year, at 38 bushels per acre. There were lower than expected acreages put into canola in Alberta and Manitoba this year which contributed to the decline in production on the national scene.Ìý
Canola production in Saskatchewan, on the other hand, is expected to edge upwards by 0.8 per cent to 8.9 million tonnes. This is due to a 1.2 per cent increase in harvested area while the average yield will be similar to that of 2015 at 36.3 bushels per acre.Ìý
Canola production in Alberta will probably decline by one per cent to 5.4 million tonnes due to drop of 4.6 per cent in harvested acreages. Average yield will be up in Alberta though, to over 41 bushels per acre.Ìý
Canola production in Manitoba will be down 7.8 per cent to 2.6 million tonnes with the harvested acreage down by about 80,000 acres. The average yield will also be down 5.5 per cent to 38.1 bushels per acre.Ìý
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Corn for Grain
Corn for grain (Corn) is expected to decline 8.9 per cent from 2015 to 12.3 million tonnes, unable to match the national record set last year for average yield of 164.7 bushels per acre. The decline will be about 9.4 per cent to just over 149 bushels per acre.Ìý
Ontario leads the corn production team but dry conditions there during the peak growing season tempered production expectations. That means corn production in that province will fall by over 11 per cent to 7.9 million tonnes.Ìý
Quebec farmers will also see a decline in corn production by about 8.8 per cent to 3.4 million tonnes, mainly a result of a nearly two per cent reduction in harvested acreages.Ìý
Corn production in Manitoba is expected to be up by 19 per cent to over 937,000 tonnes thanks to a 30.6 per cent gain in the harvested area to 320,000 acres with an average yield of 115.3 bushels per acre, a slight drop from the average yield last year.Ìý
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Soybeans
On the soybean front, production is expected to fall 6.5 per cent across Canada compared with last year.Ìý
There will be a 15 per cent decline in soybeans in Ontario, the country’s largest soybean producer. That means a harvest of about 3.1 million tonnes. The harvested area is also down over seven per cent to 2.7 million acres. Average yield is also going to decline to about 41.6 bushels per acre compared with 45.5 bushels per acre in 2015.Ìý
In Manitoba, there could be record soybean production for a fifth consecutive year, up 9.8 per cent from 2015 to 1.5 million tonnes despite a 5.4 per cent decrease in average yield of 35 bushels per acre. The increase is the result of a 16.3 per cent hike in harvested area to a record 1.6 million acres.Ìý
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Lentils
Lentil production across Canada is expected to reach a record high with an increase of over 36 per cent from a year earlier to 3.2 million tonnes. This is pretty well entirely due to an increase in the harvested area of 36.9 per cent or 5.4 million acres. The average yield is slightly lower at 1,326 pounds per acre.Ìý
Most of the lentil production in Canada takes place in Saskatchewan and this year, in spite of some untimely rains, there could be 2.8 million tonnes of lentils coming off this province’s farms within the next few days. The average yield will be about 1,283 pounds per acre, down about 4.2 per cent from 2015.Ìý
Lentil production in Alberta is expected to show an increase by over 213 per cent to 432,700 tonnes, a record level for that province. The harvested area is up to 560,000 acres, a 127 per cent increase. Average yields are expected to rise to 1,704 pounds per acre, an improvement of nearly 38 per cent over last year.Ìý
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Barley and Oats
Barley production in Canada will be up 5.8 per cent to 8.7 million tonnes with a 6.5 per cent increase in average yields to 69.2 bushels per acre. The harvested area will be about the same as last year, with perhaps a small slide of harvested acreage of less than one per cent.Ìý
Oat production across the nation will fall nearly 12 per cent to three million tonnes. This reflects a decline of slightly over 12 per cent in harvested area to 2.3 million acres. Average yield will remain basically unchanged from last year at about 85.5 bushels per acre.Ìý
The surveys used for this report were conducted across Canada between July 27 and Aug. 4.Ìý
A final survey will be released around Sept. 20 with a final production estimate released on Dec. 6. Ìý
