Flax retaining May gains
StatCan projects smallest planted area in 76 years
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<p>Most organic crops rose in price compared to December, but only some of them saw their premiums go up. Photo: Thinkstock</p>
Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm — Flax prices continue to ride the upswing the oilseed experienced in May, said Scott Shiels, grain procurement manager for Grain Millers Canada in Yorkton, Sask.
“Old crop really jumped up here through the month of May,” Shiels said. “That hopped things from around $18 (per bushel) to as high as $25.”
He added that prices for new crop rose from C$16 to about C$20/bu.
Although Shiels wasn’t exactly sure as to why flax prices increased last month, he credited it in part to some buyers being caught short of the oilseed.
However, Shiels noted an increase in planted acres, which would normally push prices lower. He said additional acres was due in part to the dryness in western Saskatchewan.
But initial estimates called for one of the smallest flax crops in quite some time.
Going into the 2025/26 crop year, Statistics Canada projected 181,400 hectares of flax to be planted by Canadian farmers. That would be down by more than 12 per cent from 2024/25.
If StatCan’s estimate were to hold, it would be the smallest planted flax crop since 1949 when farmers seeded 125,900 hectares. The most flax planted was in 1957 at 1.41 million hectares.
Meanwhile, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada estimated flax production for 2025/26 at 230,000 tonnes, down from the previous year’s 258,000. If AAFC’s projection holds, it would make for the smallest harvest since 1950 when farmers reaped 126,000 tonnes.
Canada’s largest flax crop came in 1970 with almost 1.22 million tonnes.
In AAFC’s outlook, it projected Canadian flax exports of 200,000 tonnes, down from 250,000 in 2024/25. Total domestic use is to come to 90,000 tonnes, a 2,000 dip from last year. Ending stocks are to fall from 90,000 tonnes to 40,000.
