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By Alice McFarlane

Agriculture Roundup

Agriculture Roundup for Friday January 24, 2020

Jan 24, 2020 | 10:04 AM

A University of Regina researcher said climate change has affected farming in Saskatchewan over the last 50 years.

Professor Dave Sauchyn said the temperature is five degrees warmer in winter and the growing season is roughly two weeks longer than 50 or 60 years ago.

Sauchyn supported a recent Agriculture Canada report suggests there will be improved crop production on the Prairies from future climate change.

The report said wheat fields could jump 23 per cent and canola 13 per cent in the future.

He said climate change is hard to measure on the Prairies because of the extremely wide swings in weather but trends show major changes.

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A market analyst is forecasting a five to ten per cent increase in oat area in Western Canada.

There was also a 15 per cent increase in oat production last year.

Ag Commodity Research President Randy Strychar said it’s too much production to keep oat prices where they were over the past two years and prices will likely slide.

Strychar said oat sales to China have not advanced as much as expected despite growth of up to 30 per cent on breakfast cereals and snack bars in the Chinese market.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF