Canadian farmers intend to plant 27.0 million acres to wheat in 2023, up 1.58 million acres (6.2%) from last year, according to Statistics Canada (StatCan). Spring wheat area (+7.5% to 19.4 million acres), durum wheat area (+0.9% to 6.1 million acres) and winter wheat area (+12.7% to 1.5 million acres) are all expected to increase. If realized, Canadian wheat acres would be the highest in more than two decades. Canadian farmers intend to plant 21.6 million acres to canola, up 201,000 acres (0.9%) from last year.
Mike Jubinville with MarketFarm said, “The gain in spring wheat was anticipated given fall delivered prices between $9.75 to $10.60... well off the highs of the past year, but still strong prices from the historical context... and growers just find wheat a reliable crop to grow. The one surprise I do see in the wheat category is a rise rather than slight decline registered in this report on durum acres. While canola prices have certainly come well off their highs of a year ago, in a relative sense, everything else has dropped as well. The return-on-investment potential with canola is still strong enough to maintain acres.”
