Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm — Canadian farmers are forecast to harvest more canola in 2025/26, while there’s to be less wheat, Statistics Canada said in its crop production report on Aug. 28.
StatCan estimated there’s about 19.94 million tonnes of canola to be harvested, 3.6 per cent more than its revised 2024/25 figure of 19.24 million. That’s above the five-year average of 18.25 million tonnes and slightly below the 20.10 million tonnes predicted by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada last week.
“The anticipated increase in production was attributable to higher yields, which are expected to rise by 5.7 per cent to 41 bushels per acre, offsetting lower harvested area, which is projected to decrease by two per cent to 21.4 million acres,” said StatCan in its report.
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Saskatchewan harvest lags behind
At 12 per cent complete as of Aug. 25, harvest progress in Saskatchewan was well behind the five-year average of 25 per cent finished, the provincial agriculture department reported. Rain and thunderstorms hampered harvesting in some areas of Saskatchewan.
The agency pegged all wheat output at nearly 35.55 million tonnes, slipping almost 1.1 per cent from last year’s updated estimate of 35.94 million, but above the five-year average of 32.42 million tonnes.
“The decrease is a result of lower projected harvested area, which is expected to fall by 1.5 per cent to 18.4 million acres, and lower yields, which are anticipated to fall by 0.5 per cent to 51.9 bushels per acre,” the report said.
Spring wheat is to pull back by almost two per cent at 25.99 million tonnes, while durum is expected to drop 4.7 per cent at 6.08 million tonnes. Winter wheat is set to increase 14.3 per cent at about 3.48 million tonnes.
Among the other major crops, corn for grain was forecast to edge higher 1.4 per cent at 15.55 million tonnes, while barley is to slip 1.9 per cent at 7.99 million. Also, soybeans were dropped 7.3 per cent at nearly 7.02 million tonnes, oats nudged up a little more than one per cent at over 3.39 million, and lentils were raised 9.2 per cent at about 2.66 million.
StatCan will update its crop forecasts with another satellite-model report on Sept. 17. The farmer-survey report is scheduled for Dec. 4.
