Principal field crop areas, June 2018

Released: 2018-06-29

In 2018, Canadian farmers reported seeding less land to canola and soybeans—crops that were both at record levels in 2017—according to the results of the June Field Crop Survey on seeded areas. However, the decrease of canola acreage reported by farmers in late May and early June for 2018 was not as significant as expected earlier in March, when snow was still on the ground. Seeded acreage of dry peas and lentils have also decreased this year, potentially as a result of tariffs imposed by India. Meanwhile, the areas seeded to all wheat varieties and barley have increased from 2017.

At the time of survey, seeding was well under way or completed in most provinces across Canada, in part due to warm weather. However, the dry conditions that prevailed in late spring could have an impact on future crop development.

Wheat

Canadian farmers reported an overall increase in the area sown to all wheat varieties in 2018, up 10.4% to 24.7 million acres. The gain was mainly driven by a 9.5% rise in spring wheat seeded area, which increased by 1.5 million acres in 2018. Durum wheat seeded area rose by 980,400 acres (+18.8%), which has also contributed to the gain of wheat area sown in 2018.

Saskatchewan farmers reported the area seeded to all varieties of wheat increased for the first time in four years, up 14.6% in 2018 to 13.0 million acres. The overall gain was the result of a rise in spring wheat seeded area, which increased 12.5% to 7.8 million acres.

Producers in Alberta reported that areas seeded to all wheat varieties increased 6.6% from 2017, to 7.5 million acres. The overall growth was driven by gains in both spring wheat (+6.9%) and durum wheat (+8.7%) seeded area.

Manitoba producers reported that their area sown to all varieties of wheat increased by 7.5% in 2018. Similar to the other Prairie provinces, the increase in Manitoba was driven by a gain in spring wheat seeded area (+8.7%).

Canola

Canadian farmers reported seeding 22.7 million acres of canola in 2018, down 1.1% from 23.0 million acres in 2017.

The overall decline in canola area was the result of reduced areas in Saskatchewan and Alberta. The seeded area reported by Saskatchewan farmers was down 3.5% from 2017 to 12.3 million acres. In Alberta, producers sowed 6.8 million acres (-1.7%). Meanwhile, in Manitoba, producers reported that their area seeded to canola increased 8.1% in 2018 to 3.4 million acres, potentially at the expense of soybean acreage that decreased this year.

Soybeans

In 2018, the area sown to soybeans was down 13.2% from 2017 to 6.3 million acres. The four largest producing provinces in the country—Ontario, Manitoba, Quebec and Saskatchewan—all planted fewer acres.

According to a recent Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada outlook for principal field crops report, attractive wheat prices, dry weather across Western provinces where most of the decline occurred, and burdensome world soybean supplies all contributed to this year's acreage decline.

In Ontario, area seeded to soybeans was 3.0 million acres, down 1.8% from a year ago. For the first time in a decade, Manitoba farmers planted fewer soybean acres, down 17.5% to 1.9 million acres in 2018.

In Quebec, the area planted to soybeans was down 7.0% from 2017 to 915,000 acres. Saskatchewan farmers also reported fewer acres, seeding 407,500 acres, a decline of 52.1% from last year.

Corn for grain

Canadian farmers reported their total acreage seeded to corn for grain remained relatively stable at 3.6 million acres in 2018, up 1.6% from 2017.

In Ontario, the largest producing province, farmers planted 2.2 million acres of corn for grain, an increase of 1.7% compared with 2017.

In Quebec, farmers reported a 1.5% increase from 2017, seeding 953,000 acres of corn for grain in 2018. Area seeded to corn for grain in Manitoba also rose in 2018, up 4.4% to a record 428,000 acres.

Barley and oats

Total area seeded to barley rose 12.7% from last year to 6.5 million acres in 2018. Alberta farmers planted 3.1 million acres, up 9.3% from 2017. Saskatchewan's area sown to barley increased 15.8% to 2.7 million acres.

Canadian farmers reported seeding 3.1 million acres of oats, down 4.6% from 2017. In Saskatchewan, area sown to oats fell 15.4% to 1.4 million acres. In Alberta, farmers reported seeding 795,100 acres of oats, up 15.2% from 2017.

Lentils and peas

Canadian farmers reported that areas seeded to lentils decreased 14.5% in 2018 to 3.8 million acres. Acreage seeded to dry peas fell 12.0% to 3.6 million acres.

Saskatchewan farmers reported decreases in both lentils (-14.6%) and dry peas (-10.6%). Similarly, Alberta farmers reported a 13.4% drop in lentil seeded area and a 16.0% decrease in area seeded to dry peas.

Map 1 
Map display of the seeded areas for four selected field crops in Canada: wheat, canola, corn for grain and soybeans, June 2018

Map 2 
Map display of the three main seeded field crops by province, June 2018

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).