The 2024 Canadian oat and barley crops ended up turning out better than expected.
In its final crop production report for the 2024 season on Thursday, Statistics Canada pegged the national barley crop at 8.144 million tonnes, a substantial increase from the federal agency’s September report which put the crop at just 7.6 million. Meanwhile, oat output was reported at 3.358 million tonnes, compared to 3.017 million in September.
But despite the increase from the fall, estimated barley production is still 8.6% below a year earlier and potentially the smallest barley crop since 2017 at 7.891 million tonnes, excluding the drought-slashed production year of 2021.
For oats, estimated production is up 27% on the year but still well down from the 2022 crop of 5.226 million.
StatsCan’s September crop production report, along with the one released in August, were based satellite imagery and agroclimatic data. Today’s report reflects a survey of Canadian farmers that was conducted between Oct. 4 and Nov. 7, when the harvest was well advanced or complete in most areas.
StatsCan put the average national oat and barley yields at 88.7 and 63.2 bu/acre, respectively compared to 83.6 and 61 bu in September and 83.9 bu and 61.2 bu a year ago.
National barley harvested area was down 11.4% on the year to 5.9 million acres, while oat harvested area was up 20.3% to 2.5 million acres.
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