The numbers are in and Canadian farmers increased production of wheat, canola, barley, soybeans and lentils in 2016 compared with 2015.
Corn for grain and oat production levels were lower than the year before.
Statistics Canada said in their latest report issued on Dec. 6, that significant snowfall in October halted harvest operations in some regions of Alberta and Saskatchewan so some combining was not complete at the end of their survey period. Warmer, snow-free conditions in November allowed most of them to complete the job though, after giving the statistics gathering team their best estimates of what their total crop production would be.
WHEAT:
Wheat production is expected to be 15 per cent greater in 2016 compared with 2015 at 31.7 million tonnes. This marks the second time in five years that wheat volumes exceeded 30 million tonnes with the other being the 2013 bumper crop of 37.5 million tonnes.
The increase in total wheat production resulted from a higher average yield of 53.2 bushels per acres this year which was up from the 42.8 bushel per acre average a year earlier, an increase of over 24 per cent. The actual harvested acreage declined 7.3 per cent to 21.9 million acres, the lowest acreage of land put into wheat in five years.
Saskatchewan farmers reported an 11.6 per cent increase to 14.5 million tonnes, despite the fact harvested area declined by 1.6 million acres from 2015 to 11.3 million acres. The gain in total wheat production was the result of a 27.2 per cent increase in average yield in Saskatchewan, which was 47.3 bushels per acre.
Alberta farmers brought in 9.9 million tonnes of wheat on 6.3 million acres with an average yield of 58 bushels per acre. The rise in yield was 25.5 per cent while the total acreage was down 4.6 per cent in Saskatchewan’s neighbouring province to the west.
To the east, Manitoba farmers reported 4.2 million tonnes of wheat in 2016 which was virtually unchanged from their 2015 levels.
In Ontario, wheat came in at 2.5 million tonnes driven by a 56 per cent increase in 2015 winter wheat harvested in 2016 as well as a record high average yield of 90.9 bushels per acre which was up nearly 16 per cent over the previous year.
CANOLA:
Canadian farmers produced 18.4 million tonnes of canola in 2016, pretty well unchanged from 2015. The average yield was a record high at 42.3 bushels per acre surpassing the previous high mark of 40.6 bushels per acre in 2013. These factors were offset however with a 6.6 per cent decline in harvested acres to 19.2 million acres.
In Saskatchewan canola production was up 2.3 per cent while Alberta and Manitoba saw declines of 2.3 per cent and four per cent respectively.
Canola production in Saskatchewan was at an all time high at 9.7 million tonnes, thanks to a record high yield of 41.2 bushel per acre on average, an increase of 8.7 per cent since the acreage put into this crop decreased 5.9 per cent to 10.4 million acres.
Alberta’ canola production was 5.8 million tonnes while Manitoba brought in 2.7 million tonnes.
SOYBEANS
Nationally production rose for the eighth consecutive year to 6.5 million tonnes led by Ontario where production was down to 3.4 million tonnes with an average yield of just under 46 bushels per acre.
In Manitoba, soybean production was up over 27 per cent to 1.8 million tonnes, due to record levels of both harvest acres and average yield of 41.3 bushels per acre.
LENTILS:
Production of this crop reached a record high this year up nearly 28 per cent to 3.2 million tonnes. This was due to a 42.5 per cent gain in harvested area to 5.7 million acres since the average yield was down 10.3 per cent to 1,248 pounds per acre.
The majority of national lentil production originates in Saskatchewan where growers reported producing 2.7 million tonnes this year with a harvest area of 5.2 million acres with a decline in the average yield to 1,167 pounds per acre.
BARLEY & OATS:
Barley production was up 6.8 per cent to 8.8 million tonnes this year. This was attributed to a nearly 13 per cent increase in average yield to a record high 73.4 bushels per acre. Harvested area decreased 5.6 per cent to 5.5 million acres.
Oat producers reported a production decline of 8.2 per cent compared with 2015 to 3.1 million tonnes. This was despite a record high yield of 92.3 bushels per acres, up 8.2 per cent from last year. The drop in production was attributed to the 15.1 per cent drop in harvested area to 2.2 million acres.
