Producers in Canada are expected to seed a lot of wheat and canola in 2011, according to the spring planting intentions report Tuesday from Statistics Canada.
One of the crops expected to see a significant increase in acreage this spring is canola, but Mike Jubinville of Pro Farmer Canada in Winnipeg said he expects to see fewer acres than the 19.225 million StatsCan predicts.
"When the surveyors called the farmers, they said, 'Assuming normal seeding conditions, what are you going to seed?' We do not have normal seeding conditions," Jubinville said. "I think we could see as much as one million fewer acres planted than the StatsCan estimate."
There were 16.818 million acres planted to canola in 2010.
Wheat acreage was on the high end of traders' estimates, but the big increase came in durum, which is expected to see nearly two million more acres this year than last.
"Durum is going to see a very low carryout of stocks at the end of this year," said Jerry Klassen, manager of GAP Grains and Products in Winnipeg. "As well, in the main growing regions, producers get around 10 per cent better yields on durum than on spring wheat."
StatsCan estimated a total of 24.724 million acres of all wheat for 2011, which compared to 21.064 million one year ago. Durum was pegged at 5.05 million acres, up from the 3.15 million seeded in 2010.
"Popular"
With spring seeding expected to be at least two to three weeks behind normal on the Canadian Prairies this year, many producers are likely to plant crops that have a shorter growing season
"Crops that can be seeded a little bit later -- assuming we don't have the extreme conditions of last year -- will be popular with producers with the wet soils we have right now," said Ron Frost of Frost Consulting in Calgary.
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