Canada plants less spring wheat, more corn and soybeans – Statistics Canada

Canadian farmers planted less spring wheat and more corn and soybeans in 2016, while canola was relatively unchanged from 2015, Statistics Canada said.

The total wheat area decreased 3.9% to 23.2 million acres. The decline was the result of a 9.2% drop in spring wheat to 15.4 million acres. Durum wheat rose 4.8% to 6.1 million acres. Spring wheat acreage was down in all three Prairie provinces.

Canola acreage was 20.0 million acres, down slightly from 20.1 million in 2015.

Canadian farmers are planting more corn and soybeans.

Total soybean acreage increased 1% to 5.5 million acres, the result of more acreage in Manitoba, which reported a record 1.6 million, up 17.3% from a year ago. In Ontario, the country’s largest soybean producer, acreage dropped 6.4% to 2.7 million.  Quebec soybean area increased 3.2% to 803,100 acres.

Corn acreage is at 3.3 million, up 1.7% increase from 2015. Ontario farmers planted 2.1 million acres, an area similar to that of last year, while Quebec acreage slipped 1.4% to 889,600. In Manitoba, acreage was 325,000, up 30%.

Drought threatens Ontario soybeans – Western Producer

A prolonged dry spell threatens the soybean crop in parts of Ontario and rain is needed soon to salvage the growing season, the Western Producer said this week

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs said crops in the region between Toronto and London have been hardest hit by the drought.

“Only about 20% of soybean stands in the Niagara and Haldimand regions have an acceptable plant stand due to dry conditions,” the OMAFRA field crop team said in an online report.

Horst Bohner, OMAFRA soybean specialist, said crops in that region desperately need rain in the next 10 days.

Environment Canada data from Hamilton, north of Simcoe, indicates the area has received less than half the normal rainfall this spring. On average, about 165 millimeters of rain falls on Hamilton in May and June.

Big Russian grain harvest expected – Reuters

Russia's grain crop could reach 110 million metric ton this year, up from the planned 106 million, if weather conditions allow, Russia’s Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev told a government meeting on Wednesday.

The Reuters story said Russia, a major global wheat exporter, has been expected to harvest the second-largest grain crop in its post-Soviet history this year, up from 105 million in 2015 and compared with the record of 108 million in 2008.

"If we keep on going like this, we plan to harvest 106 million tons," Tkachev said. "If the weather really helps during the harvesting campaign... if everything is normal, then we may get a harvest of up to 110 million tons in the best case."

Russia started grain harvesting in its southern regions several days ago with yields higher than a year ago, according to the Agriculture Ministry.

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