LANGHAM, SASK. – Western Canadian farmers will harvest an average crop this year provided cooler temperatures prevail and the region gets some timely rains in the next few weeks, says Bruce Burnett, the weather and market analyst with The Western Producer Markets Desk.
However, Burnett, who took a closer look at Prairie crops as he travelled to Saskatoon for this year’s Ag in Motion farm show, cautioned average doesn’t fairly tell this year’s production story. Farmers across the southern Prairies will see lower than average yields due to persistent drought conditions, while farmers further north are benefitting from more timely rains and optimum temperatures for seed development.
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He’s forecasting a drop in Canadian durum production even though the acreage sown this year was higher, noting he observed some farmers in the southern Prairies already baling durum fields for feed. Production of other key crops grown by Western farmers should be like last year’s, even though the acreage sown to some of them was higher. Statistics Canada reports Western Canada’s total crop production in 2024 was 71.5 million tonnes.
Burnett said farmers should take advantage of any market rallies to price their production, as a super-sized corn crop in the U.S. and ongoing uncertainty over tariffs and trade are weighing on the market outlook.
In this video, Burnett summarizes the findings of his first-hand look at fields across the West and offers some glimpses of how the size of this year’s crop and global market conditions will influence the price outlook.
You can find all of Bruce Burnett’s crop market columns here.
