Crop Condition Assessment Program

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Growing conditions for Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada range from lower to much lower than normal this spring as a result of cool, wet weather, according to early data from the Crop Condition Assessment Program (CCAP) for the 2011 growing season. Corn and soybean planting is delayed in some regions, with the possibility that producers may consider switching to earlier maturing varieties.

In Western Canada, conditions are classified mostly as similar to lower than normal. Extensive areas of Manitoba have suffered from spring flooding, which has delayed seeding.

On the other hand, drought conditions prevail in Northern Alberta, where several forest fires occurred in May.

The CCAP is a free web mapping application that provides timely, objective cropland and pasture monitoring information on a weekly basis for Canada's entire agricultural region, along with the northern part of the United States.

The program combines state-of-the-art satellite remote sensing with geographic information systems and dynamic web mapping technologies. It is the longest running near real-time, operational, web-based, crop and pasture condition monitoring program using satellite data in Canadian history.

An additional satellite data source with an improved resolution of 250 metres, implemented in 2010, is also available for the 2011 edition of the CCAP.

Satellite imagery is received every Monday afternoon from early April until mid-October. Weekly updates are made to the web application within minutes of receiving the satellite data for near real-time utilisation by the entire agriculture community.

Current conditions are compared with the normal, allowing easy mapping of areas under stress, such as drought, flooding or frost events. Other products include thematic maps and data in graph and tabular format for four types of different geography layers, from the census agriculture region to the township level. The entire historical database is included in the application.

Also included is an experimental spring wheat yield forecast for the Prairies that will be updated in July. This yield forecast model uses historical yield estimates and current satellite image data to estimate crop yields in near real-time.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, through the Growing Forward program, has partnered with Statistics Canada to provide this application free of charge. The Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, part of Natural Resources Canada, has also contributed by providing software for processing the input satellite data.

The publication Crop Condition Assessment Program, 2011 (22-205-X, free), is now available from Key resource module of our website under Publications.

To visit the web application, go to (www26.statcan.ca/ccap-peec/start-debut-eng.jsp).

For more information, or for custom requests, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Gordon Reichert (613-951-3872; rsga@statcan.gc.ca), Agriculture Division.