Principal field crops

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Prairie farmers may increase plantings of canola by 4.7% from the record area planted in 2009, while the area seeded to durum wheat is reported to drop by a third from 2009. In the East, farmers expect a slight increase in soybean area.

Canola acreage may climb to record levels

Early indications are that Prairie farmers may plant a record area of 16.8 million acres of canola, up 4.7% (+760,000 acres) over 2009. This would be the fourth consecutive annual increase in canola area on the Prairies.

Most of the increase is expected in Saskatchewan, where farmers reported a new high of 8.6 million acres, up 700,000 acres over the 2009 seeded area. Farmers in Alberta reported that they may plant 5.1 million acres, an additional 100,000 acres from 2009. Manitoba farmers may reduce seeded area by 40,000 acres from 2009 to 3.2 million acres.

Area for durum wheat should fall

In contrast to canola, Prairie farmers anticipate seeding less durum wheat, a possible decline of 2.0 million acres or 34.9% to 3.7 million acres. This decline in seeded area appears to be primarily a reaction by farmers to unattractive prices, as a result of large world carry-in stocks from 2009.

In Saskatchewan, where the majority of Canadian durum is grown, farmers may seed 3.2 million acres, down 32.3%, and Alberta farmers could plant 485,000 acres, 47.8% less compared with 2009.

More soybean area possible

Total soybean seeded area could rise 2.5% from 2009 to 3.5 million acres.

Ontario soybean seeded area should rise by 50,000 acres to 2.5 million acres, while in Quebec, the area seeded to soybeans is reported to remain at the 2009 area of 598,000 acres.

Soybean area in Manitoba is expected to rise 8.4% to a new high of 450,000 acres. By contrast, only 50,000 acres of soybeans was seeded in Manitoba in 2001, when Statistics Canada first began recording this crop. Acreage has been increasing in that province since that time.

Available on CANSIM: tables 001-0004, 001-0010, 001-0017 to 001-0020.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 3401.

The publication Field Crop Reporting Series: "March Intentions of Principal Field Crop Areas," Vol. 89, no. 2 (22-002-X, free), is now available from the Key resource of our website under Publications.

The stocks of principal field crops at March 31 will be released on May 10.

For further information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact David Burroughs (613-951-5138; dave.burroughs@statcan.gc.ca), Yves Gilbert (613-951-2577; yves.gilbert@statcan.gc.ca) or Dave Roeske (613-951-0572; dave.roeske@statcan.gc.ca), Agriculture Division.