Canada plants less spring wheat, more corn and soybeans

Canadian farmers planted less spring wheat and more corn and soybeans in 2016, while canola was relatively unchanged from 2015, Statistics Canada said in a report on June 29th, 2016.

Seeding of most crops was nearly completed in early June, ahead of the five-year average. Sowing conditions were generally positive this spring, with only a few localized areas reporting too little or too much moisture. Total crop land lying fallow in 2016 was at an all-time low.

Wheat

Canadian farmers reported an overall decrease in the area sown to wheat this year, down 3.9% to 23.2 million acres. The decline was the result of a 9.2% drop in area seeded to spring wheat, which fell to 15.4 million acres in 2016. In contrast, the area seeded to durum wheat rose 4.8% to 6.1 million acres.

Provincially, Saskatchewan farmers reported that total area seeded to all wheat decreased 7.1% in 2016 to 12.1 million acres. Durum wheat seeded area, however, was constant year over year at 5.0 million acres. Total area seeded to spring wheat dropped 11.9% to 6.9 million acres, a third consecutive decline for the province.

Alberta producers reported that their total wheat acreage fell 2.7% from 2015 to 6.6 million acres. A drop in spring wheat acreage accounted for the decline, down 8.5% to 5.4 million acres. However, durum wheat seeded area increased 34.1% to 1.1 million acres in 2016, matching the record acreage seeded to durum in 2002.

Farmers in Manitoba reported seeding 2.8 million acres of spring wheat, down 3.8% from 2015.

Canola

Canadian farmers reported seeding 20.0 million acres of canola in 2016, down slightly (-0.4%) from the 20.1 million acres reported in 2015.

The overall decline in canola area was attributable to reduced seeded areas in Alberta (-4.3%) and Manitoba (-1.6%). Saskatchewan farmers reported a 2.1% increase from the previous year, seeding 10.9 million acres of canola in 2016. In comparison, farmers in Alberta reported seeding 5.8 million acres, while farmers in Manitoba planted 3.1 million acres. Collectively, these three provinces accounted for nearly all of the canola seeded area in Canada.

Lentils

Total area seeded to lentils reached a record high of 5.8 million acres in 2016, up 47.8% from the record set in 2015.

Lentil area in Saskatchewan, which accounted for 90% of total acreage in Canada, rose 42.6% from last year to 5.3 million acres.

In addition, Alberta farmers more than doubled their planted acres of lentils this year, up 126.0% to 565,000 acres.

Soybeans

In 2016, the total area seeded to soybeans grew 1.0% to 5.5 million acres. This increase was the result of a rise in soybean acreage in Manitoba, which set a new record for the province this year.

In Ontario, the largest soybean producer in Canada, farmers seeded 2.7 million acres in 2016, down 6.4% from last year. Ontario farmers reported using genetically modified seed for almost two-thirds of this area.

Manitoba farmers seeded a record high of 1.6 million acres in 2016, up 17.3% from 2015. This was the ninth straight increase.

In Quebec, the area planted to soybeans was up 3.2% from the previous year to 803,100 acres; genetically modified seed accounted for 63% of this area.

Barley and oats

Nationally, the total area seeded to barley fell 2.2% from 2015 to 6.4 million acres. Alberta and Saskatchewan represented almost 90% of the total barley seeded area in 2016.

The total acreage seeded to oats dropped 14.3% from 2015 to 2.9 million acres in 2016. Alberta was the only province where farmers reported an increase from the previous year in area seeded to oats.

Corn for grain

Canadian farmers reported planting 3.3 million acres of corn for grain in 2016, a 1.7% increase from 2015.

In Ontario, farmers planted 2.1 million acres of corn for grain in 2016, an area similar to that of last year. The area seeded to corn for grain in Quebec edged down 1.4% compared with last year to 889,600 acres. Farmers in Ontario reported that genetically modified seed made up 83% of their total planted areas of corn for grain, while for Quebec farmers, it accounted for 86%.

Meanwhile, farmers in Manitoba planted 325,000 acres of corn for grain in 2016, a 30.0% increase compared with last year.