High global grain stocks have Agriculture Canada predicting an overall shift away from grains this year, with Canadian acreage turning more to oilseeds and pulses.
This year's first Outlook for Principal Field Crops, released in late January, forecasts wheat acreage to decrease marginally for the 2016/2017 crop year, while seeded area for peas and lentils looks to increase just shy of 15 per cent.
"India did have some trouble this year, so prices for peas have gone very high this year, and probably come seeding next year or later this spring, prices will look quite attractive," says Fred Oleson, the deputy director of the market analysis group with Agriculture Canada. "That'll take pea production from about 3.2 million tonnes up to 4.1, so we'll have an extra million tonnes in the system, so that'll be good for our exports."
This outlook is quite preliminary, however, as Oleson notes Statistics Canada doesn't release any official seeding numbers until April. He says forecasts are tricky in particular for crops like canola, where rotations have become quite stretched, but they expect about a five per cent increase in canola acreage.
Source : PortageOnline