Canadian farmers intend to reduce the number of planted canola acres in 2024.
Growers are expected to plant about 21.4 million acres of canola this year, down around 3.1 per cent from 2023, March 2024 data from Stats Canada says.
Farmers planted 22.1 million acres of canola in 2023.
On a provincial level, Saskatchewan farmers are expected to decrease canola acres the most.
Farmers there are pulling back canola acres by 4.9 per cent, followed by a 2.4 per cent reduction in each of Alberta and Manitoba.
Stats Canada is pointing to two reasons why producers are scaling back canola acres.
“The decline in expected seeded area may have been driven by lower prices for canola, in addition to other concerns including soil moisture in Western Canada,” the report says.