WINNIPEG (Reuters) — Canadian farmers planted the most wheat this spring in nine years as bottlenecks in global supplies drove up prices of grain and food, a government report shows.
Farmers seeded more spring wheat and canola than they intended in spring, according to Statistics Canada, but wet conditions raise doubts about how much land remains unplanted.
The Russia-Ukraine war has stranded Ukrainian stocks of wheat and sunflower oil from global markets.
Canada, a major wheat and canola exporter, is recovering from severe drought last year and expects to make up some of the global shortfalls that are raising risks of famine.
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Statistics Canada pegged all-wheat plantings at 25.4 million acres, the most since 2013, and up slightly from its April estimate of 25 million. The area represents a nine percent increase from last year and landed at the top end of a range of industry estimates
The increase in overall wheat plantings reflected more acres of spring wheat than farmers anticipated in the spring. By contrast, farmers tapered back slightly on plantings of durum from their spring intentions.
Statistics Canada said farmers planted 21.4 million acres of canola, more than they intended in spring when Statistics Canada predicted 20.9 million acres, but down nearly five percent from last year. The estimate for canola was in line with industry expectations.
The changes to both wheat and canola estimates from the spring report are “relatively minor,” said Bruce Burnett, director of markets and weather at MarketsFarm.
“It gives us the potential for a bigger crop. Now it’s all about yields.”
A big wild card is how much land farmers were unable to plant. Heavy rain swamped Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan this spring.
Statistics Canada increased its estimate of unplanted land to 1.8 million acres from its April estimate of 1.6 million, the most in five years.
Burnett said the actual size of land that farmers could not plant is likely larger.
