Opinion Mixed on 2024-25 Aussie Canola Area

Apr 15, 2024

With planting underway in some areas, opinions remain mixed on Australian canola acres for 2024-25.

A Reuters report earlier this week said local analysts expect farmers to reduce canola planted area by anywhere from 4 to 20% from a year earlier due to better returns for wheat and barley and dryness in Western Australia, which last year produced roughly half the country’s 5.7-million tonne canola harvest.

However, a separate report this week from the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service suggested basically the exact opposite.

FAS said it expected Aussie canola planted area to increase year-over-year due to more favourable price expectations versus wheat and barley, projecting 2024-25 harvested area at 9.38 million acres, up 8.6% from last year and potentially the second highest on record.

The FAS report also said soil moisture conditions in the canola growing regions are now “broadly better than at the same time the previous year.” Further, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) indicates that the current La Nina conditions will ease to a neutral position during the fall, indicating a likelihood of average rainfalls and the potential for slightly stronger yields compared to last year, FAS said.

FAS pegged total Australian canola production for 2024-25 at 6.5 million tonnes, up 14% on the year and the third highest on record. Exports for the new-crop season are projected to rise 16% to 5.1 million tonnes.

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Video: From Conventional to Regenerative: Will Groeneveld’s Journey Back to the Land

"You realize you've got a pretty finite number of years to do this. If you ever want to try something new, you better do it."

That mindset helped Will Groeneveld take a bold turn on his Alberta grain farm. A lifelong farmer, Will had never heard of regenerative agriculture until 2018, when he attended a seminar by Kevin Elmy that shifted his worldview. What began as curiosity quickly turned into a deep exploration of how biology—not just chemistry—shapes the health of our soils, crops and ecosystems.

In this video, Will candidly reflects on his family’s farming history, how the operation evolved from a traditional mixed farm to grain-only, and how the desire to improve the land pushed him to invite livestock back into the rotation—without owning a single cow.

Today, through creative partnerships and a commitment to the five principles of regenerative agriculture, Will is reintroducing diversity, building soil health and extending living roots in the ground for as much of the year as possible. Whether it’s through intercropping, zero tillage (which he’s practiced since the 1980s) or managing forage for visiting cattle, Will’s approach is a testament to continuous learning and a willingness to challenge old norms.

Will is a participant in the Regenerative Agriculture Lab (RAL), a social innovation process bringing together producers, researchers, retailers and others to co-create a resilient regenerative agriculture system in Alberta. His story highlights both the potential and humility required to farm with nature, not against it.