Western Canadian farmers will seed more wheat and canola this spring and less peas and lentils.

That was the forecast made this week by market analyst Chuck Penner with LeftField Commodity Research at the Western Canadian Crop Production Show in Saskatoon.

Penner says bullish signs for wheat include the outlook for a poor winter wheat crop in the United States and only 60 percent of normal production in Ukraine.

A question mark for peas is export demand from China.

Chinese livestock producers will use either peas or soybean meal, whichever is less expensive.

Less expensive peas will result in more sales, but not a lot more money for farmers.

(with files from cjww)