Canada expands wheat acreage to highest level in 22 years

UkrAgroConsult

This year, Canadian farmers have expanded the area under wheat, canola, barley, corn, and soybeans. At the same time, they reduced the area under oats, lentils, and peas, according to a Statistics Canada report.

Wheat was planted on 26.9 million acres, which is 6.7% more than in 2022 and the highest in the last 22 years. The area under soft winter wheat, which is grown mainly in the east of the country, increased by 20.1% to 1.4 mln acres, and spring wheat – to 19.5 mln acres (+8% compared to 2022). The growth of the area was driven by high prices and strong external demand. Durum wheat was planted on 6.0 million acres (-0.5%).

Prices for canola are also quite attractive, so Canadian farmers planted 22.1 million acres, up 3.2% year-on-year.

Favorable conditions in the western provinces of Canada allowed farmers to complete the spring sowing in a timely manner. In Alberta, the sowing campaign was almost completed by the end of May, slightly earlier than usual due to warm and dry weather. In Saskatchewan and Manitoba, sowing was slightly behind the 5 and 10-year average due to excessive moisture in some areas.

In the eastern provinces of Canada, the weather was also favorable for sowing. Farmers in Ontario and Quebec mostly completed sowing by mid-May.

Tags: Canada, wheat, sown area