Weather played a significant role in crop production
By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com
Statistics Canada released its latest version of The Daily, and highlighted crop production.
“Canadian farmers expect production of wheat, barley and lentils to increase in 2016, while canola, soybean, corn for grain and oats are anticipated to decline,” the report says.
When it comes to wheat, production is expected to reach 30.5 million tonnes, up 10.5 percent from 2015.
If that number stands, it would mark the second time in 25 years wheat production exceeded 30 million tonnes. The other occasion was 2013’s bumper crop.
“In Ontario, where mostly winter wheat is grown, production of all wheat is anticipated to rise 66.7 per cent from a year earlier to 2.6 million tonnes,” the report reads. “The overall increase reflects a higher reported harvest area of 1.1 million acres, and an expected record average yield of 89.2 bushels per acre.
With respect to corn, production is estimated at 12.3 million tonnes in 2016, an 8.9 per cent drop from 2015. It should come to no surprise that the lack of rain contributed to the lower numbers.
“Ontario is the major provincial producer of corn for grain, but dry weather conditions in many farm areas are tempering production expectations,” the report said. “Ontario farmers expect corn for grain production to fall 11.1% to 7.9 million tonnes.”
When it comes to soybeans, production is expected to be about 5.8 million tonnes this year, down 6.5 per cent from 2015.
“Ontario, the largest soybean producer, is anticipating a 15.0% decrease to 3.1 million tonnes in 2016,” said the report. “Harvested area is expected to fall 7.1% to 2.7 million acres. At the same time, the average yield for the province is expected to decline from the 45.5 bushels per acre in 2015 to 41.6 bushels per acre in 2016.”