Federal report expects canola output down, wheat up

MarketsFarm — Expectations for canola production in Canada were revised downward Friday by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC).

AAFC has now estimated Canadian farmers will produce 18.575 million tonnes of canola in 2019, down about 8.7 per cent from its previous estimate.

Earlier this week, MarketsFarm analyst Bruce Burnett predicted canola production would be down due to slow growth and the likelihood of frost come September. Burnett called for 17.85 million tonnes.

Planted acreage estimates were also down. AAFC has projected 20.952 million acres, a drop of more than eight per cent from the previous report.

Total wheat production is expected to rise from 31.769 million tonnes, to 32 million, on just over 25 million acres. Both were slight increases from the previous report.

Durum production was lowered to five million tonnes from 5.745 million, with acres planted having dropped from 6.185 million down to 4.893 million.

Corn was up in the AAFC report, with production up 2.7 per cent to 14.264 million tonnes on a slight increase of acres.

AAFC dropped its soybean production estimate by more than eight per cent to 6.675 million tonnes. Planted acres were revised to 5.716 million, a decline of 605,000.

— Glen Hallick writes for MarketsFarm, a Glacier FarmMedia division specializing in grain and commodity market analysis and reporting.