Canada Farmers Plan to Plant Slightly More Wheat, Less Soybeans and Canola in 2024

By Robb M. Stewart

OTTAWA--Canadian farmers expect to plant less canola and soybeans this year, though the area seeded for wheat is expected to increase slightly.

Nationally, farmers forecast planting 27.0 million acres of wheat, up 0.1% from the year before, Statistics Canada said Monday.

The spring wheat area is expected to decrease 1.2% to 19.2 million acres and the winter wheat area is anticipated to drop 3.6% to 1.5 million acres, the data agency said. Land for durum wheat is expected to rise 5.1% to 6.3 million acres.

Across Canada's prairie provinces, farmers in Saskatchewan anticipate planting 0.1% more wheat to total 14.2 million acres. Alberta farmers plan to increase the wheat area 2.2% to 8.1 million acres, while farmers in Manitoba expect to plant 3.3 million acres of wheat, down 0.6%

The area for canola is expected to decrease 3.1% from 2023 to 21.4 million acres, which Statistics Canada said is roughly in line with the five-year average.

Canadian farmers anticipate planting 5.6 million acres of soybeans this year, down 0.9%. Farmers in Ontario, the province that produces the most soybeans, expect to plant 3.0 million acres of soybeans, up 4.3%, but Manitoba farmers expected acres for soybeans to fall 7.2% and in Quebec farmers expected the area seed to decrease 3.9%.

The field crop survey collected information on seeding plans from about 9,600 farmers.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-11-24 0901ET