As June came to a close, seeded acreage estimates were released in both Canada and the U.S.
In Canada, a new record has been set for canola acreage, while U.S. soybean acreage has expanded at the expense of both corn and wheat.
According to Statistics Canada, canola acreage is up 8.4 per cent as compared to last year at 23.4 million acres, the highest ever.
Meanwhile, spring wheat is down 3.9 per cent and durum acreage has dropped by 10 per cent.
Barley has seen an increase – up 9.3 per cent, while oats is down 15 per cent.
Both lentils and peas are down – lentils by 10.9 per cent and peas by 15.1 per cent, bringing pea acreage to its lowest level in 15 years.
Flax is up by 4.8 per cent after increasing 23 per cent last year.
Mustard is up 4.5 per cent after seeing an acreage drop of 40 per cent last year.
Canary seed acreage is down 26 per cent in response to disappointing prices.
With late seeding and significant unseeded acreage, there’s even more doubt than usual about the accuracy of the seeded acreage report.
As well, the huge rainfall event across Western Canada at the end of June has created flooding concerns in many regions and that will affect the number of acres actually harvested.
Meanwhile, south of the border, the USDA says soybean acreage is up 5 per cent, while corn is down 3 per cent and wheat falls by 6 per cent, with U.S. durum wheat declining 16 per cent.
