Canada. Area under durum wheat increased by more than 130,000 hectares over last year

A favorable start to the season and some early spring price incentives led Canadian farmers to plant more canola, a commercial variety of canola, at the expense of wheat than originally planned in March. However, acreage under durum wheat was expanded

According to the latest major planted area and production estimates released by Statistics Canada in the last week of June, the total area planted to Canada’s major field crops this season was 31.82 million hectares, down slightly from the 31.9 million hectares planted in 2023/24.

The government agency reported canola seeding for the 2024/25 season at 8.91 million hectares, about 2.9% or 250,000 hectares more than the March planting intentions forecast, but slightly lower than the 8.94 million hectares planted in last year’s campaign. However, it is higher than the five-year average of 8.7 million hectares.

Statistics Canada’s total wheat area is estimated at 10.78 million hectares, about 1.5% below the March forecast of 10.94 million hectares and 1.1% below the 2023 planted area of 10.9 million hectares. However, plantings at this level would still be well above the five-year average of 10.2 million hectares.

71 percent of Canada’s total wheat area is spring wheat with 7.66 million hectares, down 220,000 hectares or 2.8 percent from the previous year. In contrast, the durum wheat area, durum, at 2.58 million hectares shows an increase of more than 130,000 hectares or 5.5 percent over last year. The area of winter wheat sown in the fall is just over 540,000 hectares, down 5.8 percent from the previous season.

Barley is the second largest grain crop grown in Canada each season. As with wheat in general, farmers revised their planted acreage downward from March plans. In the June survey, farmers reported planted acreage of 2.58 million hectares, the smallest crop in seven years. This is 10.5% below the March estimate of 2.89 million hectares and 12.5% below last year’s 2.96 million hectares. Yields now need to be raised well above average to bring the 2024/25 barley crop above last year’s.

Canada is the world’s largest annual oat exporter, but 2023/24 supplies are extremely limited ahead of this year’s crop after a 35.8% drop in planted acreage last year and an ongoing drought that has caused production to fall by 50%. Although crops have recovered 14.9% to 1.18 million hectares this year, they are still well below the 1.59 million hectares planted in the 2022/23 season. Similar to barley, oat yields should be well above average to replenish stocks and meet traditional domestic and export demand in 2024/25.

On the legume side, lentils are Canada’s largest legume crop each season, with a reported planted area of 1.7 million hectares in 2024/25, up from the 1.54 million hectares reported by producers in March. That’s up 14.80% year-over-year after a 15.1% decline in 2023. Both major lentil-producing provinces reported higher planted area, with Saskatchewan up 14.0% to 1.46 million hectares and Alberta up 19.6% to about 230,000 hectares.

With soil moisture reserves restored, an active planting campaign behind us and excellent early vegetative growth, Canadian farmers are hoping for a favorable summer. However, the risks of hot and dry weather remain and consistent precipitation is required to complete the harvest.

Tags: Canada, wheat