Canadian farmers say they favoured oilseeds as they wrapped up planting the 2017 crop, according to a survey by Statistics Canada.
The report issued Thursday morning pegged canola area at 22.837 million acres, at the high end of the trade’s range of expectations. The area is 12.1 percent more than last year.
It will be the first time ever that canola area exceeds all wheat area.
Farmers were also enthusiastic about soybeans. They said they seeded 7.282 million acres, up a whopping 33.2 percent over last year.
Manitoba farmers seeded 926,700 acres of soybeans, up 40 percent from last year.
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Saskatchewan farmers crowded into the soybean experiment in a big way, with 344,000 acres, an increase of 254 percent.
Ontario farmers increase their soybean area by 13 percent to 1.244 million acres.
Across Canada, all wheat was pegged at 22.361 million acres, down 3.7 percent from last year and within the range of expectations.
Of that, spring wheat was 15.791 million acres, up 2.5 percent over last year and durum was at 5.205 million, down almost 16 percent, but nevertheless more than the trade expected
Barley acreage is seen at 5.771 million down 9.7 percent from last year and at the low end of expectations.
Lentil area, at 4.405 million acres was as expected. It was down almost 25 percent from last year.
Pea area is 4.093, also very close to expectations and down 3.4 percent from last year.
Oats area is 3.22 million acres, up 13.6 million from last year.
And for all the talk of excessive rain and soggy fields, the report says that summerfallow area is 2.17 million acres, up just 180,000 acres or nine percent from last year.
The Statscan survey was conducted between May 26 and June 12.
The following are today’s seeded area numbers from Statistics Canada compared to trade estimates from a poll by Reuters News Agency:
| mln acres | June StatCan | Avg Estimate | Lowest | Highest | April StatCan | 2016 |
| All wheat | 22.361 | 22.7 | 21.7 | 23.5 | 23.182 | 23.212 |
| Durum | 5.205 | 5.0 | 4.90 | 5.1 | 5.145 | 6.190 |
| Canola | 22.837 | 22.2 | 20.90 | 22.9 | 22.387 | 20.367 |
| Oats | 3.220 | 3.4 | 3.10 | 3.5 | 3.419 | 2.834 |
| Barley | 5.771 | 6.0 | 5.60 | 6.4 | 5.880 | 6.390 |
| Peas | 4.093 | 4.0 | 3.80 | 4.2 | 3.989 | 4.239 |
| Flax | 1.040 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.115 | 0.935 |
| Corn | 3.576 | 3.6 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 3.751 | 3.3246 |
| Lentils | 4.405 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 4.9 | 4.385 | 5.860 |
| Soybeans | 7.282 | 7.0 | 6.9 | 7.4 | 6.956 | 5.467 |
