Canadian grain producers harvested more canola and wheat this year than last, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday in its third and final estimates of this year’s Canadian crop. Barley output was up slightly - corn and soybean production were all down from 2010.
“In the West, farmers reported that hot, sunny weather during the summer helped them recover from a damp and late spring in certain areas. Similarly, weather patterns in the East returned to normal after a particularly wet spring, especially in Quebec’s Richelieu river valley,” the federal agency said when it published the results of its survey of 28,600 Canadian farmers.
Production of all Canadian wheats – spring, durum plus winter – were up on 2010, totaling 25.3 million metric tons. Canola production hit record levels.
In the wheat fields, total production was 9% higher than last year, mostly because of a strong (5.5%) increase in wheat yields in Saskatchewan and Alberta.
“A significant contributor to the overall production increase was durum wheat. Durum wheat production increased 36.4% in Saskatchewan to 3.6 million tonnes and 47.1% in Alberta to 620,500 tonnes. These increases followed substantial declines from 2009 to 2010,” Statistics Canada said.
In the west, canola production climbed by more than 10% year on year to a record 14 million tonnes. Statistics Canada attributed this mostly to an increase in canola acreage, coupled with slightly higher yields. Canola production was up in Saskatchewan and Alberta, but down for a second year in Manitoba where farmers battled spring floods.
Canadian farmers harvested 7.756 million metric tons of barley, up 2% from last year. This is still well back of 2009 production levels.
Lower yields cut into soybean production in Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. Acreage in some provinces were at record levels.
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