Western Canadian farmers are in the midst of harvesting what is expected to be their second straight record crop of winter wheat.
At the beginning of this week, harvest was nearing completion in the southern Prairies and was set to begin in the central and northern grain belt.
Quality and yield results are mixed, ranging from excellent in some areas to poor in others, according to the Canadian Wheat Board. Some farmers have been unable to recover from poor spring seeding weather and excessive dryness.
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Bruce Burnett, the CWB’s director of weather and market analysis, said a warmer and milder spring would have resulted in better yields, but they are nothing to complain about judging by early results.
“Certainly in some areas of Manitoba the yields have been excellent and the quality has been good,” he said.
Farther west, where the winter wheat crop didn’t receive the same timely rains, yields have been lower, although still within expectations.
“The positive side in those areas where the yields are down, the quality looks to be excellent,” said Burnett.
The board expects winter wheat in the prairie region to exceed last year’s record 1.3 million tonne harvest.
Stan Skrypetz, analyst with Agriculture Canada, has penciled in a 1.66 million tonne hard red winter wheat crop based on trend yields.
That would not be a burdensome supply despite a 10 percent increase in production of the same class of wheat in the United States.
“It should move. The demand is quite good,” he said.
Marketing Eastern Canada’s soft red winter wheat crop could prove more problematic. Growers there are poised to harvest a record 2.52 million tonne crop. When that is added to the 16.6 million tonne U.S. soft red wheat crop, supply becomes worrisome.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is forecasting 4.7 million tonnes of soft red carryover in 2008-09 because of the 70 percent increase in production of that class of wheat. Skrypetz said that is the only class where carryout is expected to be higher than historical levels.
