Back in April, it looked like barley was going to be the big acreage winner in 2021. Barley acres are still up on the year, although the actual year-over-year gain now looks more modest.
In an acreage report released Tuesday, Statistics Canada pegged total Canadian barley acres for this year at 8.29 million acres, a 9.7% increase over the 7.56 million acres seeded in 2021. Back in April, however, StatsCan pegged 2021 barley intentions up a steeper 14% at 8.61 million acres. Still, the decline in barley acres from intentions was not a major surprise for some analysts, with the average pre-report trade guess coming in at 8.3 million.
Meanwhile, today’s report also lowered Canadian oat acres from intentions, down to 3.42 million acres from 3.6 million in April and almost 11% below the 3.83 million seeded a year earlier.
In Alberta, barley acres are now estimated at 3.86 million, down from intentions of 3.94 million but up from 3.66 million last year. Saskatchewan barley area is pegged at 3.7 million acres, compared to intentions of 3.88 million and 3.12 million in 2020. Barley area in Manitoba is reported at 412,500 acres, down from 460,000 in April and now below the 415,300 seeded last year.
Producers in Saskatchewan reported seeding 1.64 million acres of oats this year, unchanged from April intentions but down about 11% from last year. Alberta oat area came in at just 769,000 acres, down from intentions of 856,400 and down from 881,200 in 2020. If accurate, it would be the smallest oat area in Alberta since 690,000 acres were seeded in 2017. Oat area in Manitoba is reported at 643,700 acres, compared to 763,300 in April and 695,100 last year.
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