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Farming Report

Seeding for wheat and canola increases immensely across Canada

Jul 5, 2023 | 2:51 PM

Wheat and canola seeding is taking up more ground across the country.

That’s according to Statistics Canada’s June 2023 Crop Report which gathered data from around 25,000 farms between May 15 to June 12.

Just under 27 million acres of wheat was planted this year which is the highest amount the country has seen in over two decades.

Saskatchewan accounts for over half of the crop, sitting at over 14 million acres. Alberta is second at 7.9 million acres, followed by Manitoba at third with 3.3 million acres.

As for canola, just over 22 million acres of land have been seeded with the crop.

Again, Saskatchewan is accounting for over half of the country’s supply, coming in around 12.4 million acres. Alberta and Manitoba continue to be second and third, though Manitoba saw a drop of roughly five per cent in its canola compared to last year.

Other crops that are also being planted more include barley, corn for grain, and soybeans.

Barley saw a nearly four per cent increase from 2022, sitting at 7.3 million acres. Alberta leads the country in planting the crop, followed by Saskatchewan and then Manitoba.

Around 3.8 million acres of corn for grain is planted. This is roughly five per cent more than last year mainly due to Manitoba increasing its seeding of the crop by almost 50 per cent. If not for Manitoba, corn for grain may have seen a decrease as the country’s leading producer, Ontario, actually saw its numbers drop by nearly one per cent.

Lastly, soybean production increase by around seven per cent to 5.6 million acres. Ontario also leads the way for producing the crop, however, its numbers were down over five per cent. Picking up the slack were Manitoba and Quebec.

Meanwhile, not all crops saw their numbers increase.

Fewer acres of oats, lentils, and dry peas have been planted this year.

Oats are being hit the hardest as there’s only around 2.5 million acres planted. This is down nearly 36 per cent from 2022. Saskatchewan, which produces the most oats in the country, saw its production decrease by 45 per cent.

Lentils and dry peas are still hovering between three and four million acres, though the overall numbers are down 15 and 10 per cent respectively.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow

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