Canola Production Takes Another Hit

Especially in Alberta, producers obviously had a much more pessimistic view of this year’s Canadian canola crop than did Statistics Canada’s model-based estimating methods. 

In its final crop production report for the 2022 season Friday, StatsCan pegged national canola production at 18.174 million tonnes. That is still up sharply from last year’s drought-reduced harvest of 13.757 million but is well down from the federal agency’s September forecast of 19.099 million. The estimate also falls well below the low end of pre-report trade guesses that ranged from 18.6 million to 19.7 million tonnes. 

Today’s crop production report is based on the findings of a survey sent to approximately 27,200 Canadian farms between Oct. 7 and Nov. 14, 2022, when the bulk of the harvest was complete. Farmers were asked to report their estimated seeded and harvested areas, yields and production of grains, oilseeds and special crops.  In contrast, the September crop production report contained model-based estimates that incorporated satellite imagery. StatsCan also released model-based estimates in August.