Durum Leads All Wheat Intentions Higher

A hefty jump in durum intentions will help push Canadian all wheat planted area higher this year. 

Statistics Canada’s first acreage report for the 2022 growing season on Tuesday forecast nationwide all wheat area at 25.03 million acres, up 7.2% from a year earlier and above pre-report trade projections that ranged from 22.9 million to 24.85 million acres. 

“An anticipated increase in area for wheat is likely attributable to strong prices and high worldwide demand,” StatsCan said. 

Much of the gain in forecasted 2022 all wheat area is due to an increase in durum acres, which are seen rising 12.5% year-over-year to 6.22 million, topping trade ideas that ranged from 5.5 million to 6.05 million. If accurate, durum area would be the largest since 6.53 million acres were seeded in 2000. 

Spring wheat area is projected to rise as well, up 7% over last year to 17.63 million acres, although that would still be below 17.92 million in 2020. Pre-report trade estimates had spring wheat area between 17.05 million and 18.85 million acres. 

On the other hand, national winter wheat area is estimated down 13% this year to 1.17 million acres.  

In the largest production province of Ontario, winter wheat area is now pegged at just over 844,000 acres, down from the 930,300 acres seeded in the fall and last year’s 1.08 million acres. Wet weather limited Ontario winter wheat planting last fall, while the relatively poorer condition of the crop apparently led to some acres being torn up this spring. 

Farmers in Saskatchewan anticipate planting 10.6% more wheat in 2022 compared with 2021, up to 13.28 million acres. Spring wheat area in the province is expected to expand 7.5% to 7.99 million acres, while durum wheat area is anticipated to increase 15.4% to 5.21 million acres. 

In Alberta, farmers expect total wheat area to increase 6.3% to 7.41 million acres as a result of higher spring wheat area (+7.9% to 6.31 million), while durum wheat area is expected to decrease 3.1% to 957,500 acres. Manitoba farmers anticipate planting 3.1 million acres of wheat, up 5.7% from one year earlier.