The Brandon Wheat Kings may want to consider a name change because wheat is now the third string crop in Manitoba.
For the first time, since records have been kept, hard red spring wheat is not number one or number two in crop acreage in the province.
Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation, the provincial crop insurer, projects that 2.144 million acres of hard red spring wheat went into the ground this spring. That’s 153,000 fewer than the 2.298 million acres of soybeans seeded in 2017.
The MASC numbers are the most reliable acreage figures for the province, as Statistics Canada acreage estimates are based on farmer surveys.
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MASC has recorded 97 percent of the crop insurance files for 2017, so its projected acres are slightly higher than actual data.
Canola is still the top dog in Manitoba, as acres are almost unchanged from 2016. MASC is projecting acres of 3.172 million, compared to 3.175 million last year.
Canola held onto acres despite the massive gains of soybeans, which jumped 652,084 acres in one year.
Corn and oats also saw substantial expansions:
• Oat acres gained 32 percent, going from 350,537 in 2016 to 461,804 acres in 2017, based on MASC projections.
• Grain corn gained 21 percent. It went from 329,411 acres last year to a record 400,035 in 2017. The previous record was 380,000, set in 2013.
A long list of crops lost acres to soybeans, including barley, flax, fall rye, field peas and sunflowers.
• Barley acres are 250,486, down from 361,295 in 2016.
• Field pea acres are 68,605, compared to 170,248 acres last year.
• Flaxseed is projected at 44,281, the lowest acreage ever recorded in Manitoba.
Hempseed acres in Manitoba are almost catching up to flax. Growers seeded a projected 26,405 acres of hempseed in 2017, double the acreage of 2016.
robert.arnason@producer.com
