Analysis

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Preliminary estimates of principal field crops areas,Canada, 2009

Prairie farmers increased acreage planted in spring wheat this year, while the acreage for most feed grains declined. Ontario and Quebec farmers reported that the area planted to soybeans rose to a new high.

The June farm survey, Statistics Canada's largest area survey, was conducted between May 25 and June 3, covering 25,000 Canadian farmers. As of June 3, Prairie farmers reported that planting was virtually complete, with unseeded pockets remaining in mainly northern areas and in the Red River Valley regions of Manitoba affected by the spring floods.

Seeding conditions were variable across the Canadian Prairies, ranging from cool and dry in western areas to cool and excessively wet in eastern regions.

In Ontario and Quebec, planting was mostly complete, although cool, damp weather hampered progress.

Area for spring wheat rose

Prairie farmers reported planting 17.1 million acres of spring wheat, up 7.3% or 1.2 million acres from 2008.

Wheat area increased in all three Prairie provinces. In Manitoba, farmers planted 13.8% more spring wheat, followed by Saskatchewan at 7.1% and Alberta at 4.6%.

Mixed results for oilseeds: slight decline for canola as flaxseed area rises

Prairie farmers reported that the area seeded to canola amounted to 15.7 million acres, down 2.0% or 325,000 acres from the record set in 2008.

Farmers in all three Prairie provinces planted less canola, with the largest decline observed in Alberta, a drop of 250,000 acres. The area seeded to canola had grown steadily from 2006 to 2008.

Flaxseed area on the prairies increased 10.3% to 1.7 million acres. This is the second consecutive annual increase.

Farmers in all three Prairie provinces reported an increase in the area seeded to flaxseed.

Barley area fell

Total barley area on the Prairies fell 545,000 acres from 2008, to an estimated 8.2 million acres. This is the smallest area seeded to barley since 1967.

Barley acreage fell in all three Prairie provinces, with the largest decline of 250,000 acres reported in Saskatchewan.

New high for soybean area

Soybean seeded area rose to a new high in both Ontario and Quebec. The acreage in Ontario rose 14.3% or 300,000 acres to 2.4 million acres, while in Quebec, farmers reported a 4.3% increase to 598,000 acres.