Stats Canada releases 2017 seeding intentions report

Apr 21, 2017

Canadian producers expected to plant more canola and oats this year

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

Canadian farmers are expected to plant more canola, soybeans and oats in 2017, according to a new report from Statistics Canada.

The March 2017 principal field crop report also suggests farmers will plant fewer acres of durum wheat and lentils this year than in 2016.

Wheat
On a national level, Canadian producers intend to plant 23.2 million acres of wheat, with Western Canada accounting for about 95 per cent of the total acreage.

Alberta farmers plan to increase seeding by 10 per cent to 7.4 million acres but to decrease durum acres by 8.5 per cent to 1.1 million acres.

In Saskatchewan, wheat acreage is estimated to decrease by 2.7 per cent to 11.8 million acres. Durum acreage is estimated to drop by 18.8 per cent to 4.1 million acres, according to the report.

Manitoba producers estimate they’ll plant 2.7 million acres of wheat, a drop of 9 per cent from last year.

Canola
Farmers could seed nearly 22.4 million acres of canola in 2017, which is an increase of 9.9 per cent, according to Stats Canada.

Saskatchewan’s acreage could reach 12.3 million acres, up 10.6 per cent from 2016.

Alberta canola growers expect to increase their acreage by 14.6 per cent to 6.8 million acres.

Manitoba’s canola farmers could drop their seeded acres by 1.7 per cent to 3.1 million acres.

Soybeans
Canadian farmers said they intend to increase soybean acres by 27.2 per cent from 2016 to 7 million acres, according to the report.

Manitoba could account for the largest provincial increase, with growers planning to up their soybean acreage by 34.6 per cent to 2.2 million acres.

Ontario producers plan to seed 3 million acres, an increase of 11.4 per cent from last year.

Quebec soybean producers expect to plant 926,000 acres, up 15.4 per cent from 2016.

Barley and oats
Producers across Canada said they plan to seed 8 per cent less barley than in 2016, with total acreage dropping to 5.9 million acres nationally, says Stats Canada.

But oat acreage is expected to be on the rise in most provinces to 3.4 million acres nationally.

Alberta only plans to seed 690,000 acres, a 4.2 per cent decrease from 2016.

Corn for grain
Nationally, corn producers expect to increase their acreage by 12.8 per cent to 3.8 million acres.

Ontario and Quebec farmers will have increase their cultivation of corn by 9.6 per cent and 9.7 per cent, respectively.

Producers in Manitoba expect to seed 475,000 acres of corn for grain, which is an increase of 37.7 per cent from last year, according to the report.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.