Canadian farmers to seed more canola/wheat at expense of pulses

Canadian farmers will seed more wheat and canola in 2018 at the expense of pulse crops, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s latest supply/demand estimates that include their first projections for the upcoming 2018/19 (Aug/Jul) crop year.

Total canola acres in 2018 are forecast at 24.0 million by the government agency, which would be up from the 23.0 million acres seeded the previous year. All-wheat acres (including durum) are forecast at 23.5 million, which compares with the 22.6 million seeded in 2017. Oats and barley are also forecast to see an increase in planted area.

Those increases in canola and grains will come at the expense of pulses, with both peas and lentils forecast to see a sizeable reduction in acres. Pea area is forecast at 3.2 million acres by Ag Canada, which would be down from the 4.1 million acres seeded the previous year. Projected lentil seedings of 3.2 million acres, would be down by 1.2 million from 2017.

Canola ending stocks are forecast to rise to 2.25 million for the 2018/19 crop year, which would compare with the 2.0 million forecast for 2017/18 and the 1.35 million carried forward from the 2016/17 crop year. Wheat stocks are forecast to tighten, despite the increased acres, with a carryout of 5.9 million tonnes forecast for July 2019. That compares with the 6.84 million carryout in 2017 and the 6.2 million forecast for 2018.