Prairie yield forecast takes a hit with the drought

Dry conditions and grasshopper damage throughout the growing season are expected to result in a below-average crop on the Prairies.

Bruce Burnett,  the Director of Markets and Weather Information at Glacier Farm Media says the worst conditions are in the southwest and west-central parts of Saskatchewan, as well as southeast and east-central Alberta.

He says conditions look better across Saskatchewan’s northern grainbelt in the east-central regions, and in parts of Manitoba, but yields in those areas will still be lower than average.

Based on his recent crop tour, he says, canola will likely see a prairie-wide average yield of 33 bushels an acre, which would work out to about 16.5 million tonnes of total production, down from the 18 to 20 million tonnes of production originally forecast for Canada.