StatCan Lowers Canola Production Estimate

Canadian farmers reported producing more wheat, barley and oats in 2019, while canola, corn for grain and soybean production were all down from a year earlier.

 

 

From 2018 to 2019, total wheat production rose 0.5% to 32.3 million tonnes, driven by higher yields, up 2.7% to 49.8 bushels per acre. However, harvested area decreased 2.3% to 23.9 million acres.

 

Manitoba farmers reported that yields fell 1.8% to 59.8 bushels per acre in 2019. Despite the decrease in yields, harvested area rose 5.7% to 3.1 million acres, resulting in a 3.7% production increase to 5.0 million tonnes.

 

 

Canola production decreased 8.3% nationally to 18.6 million tonnes in 2019—its lowest level since 2015. The September estimate was 19.4 million tonnes.

 

Lower production was largely attributable to lower harvested area, which fell 8.8% year over year to 20.6 million acres. Despite a dry start to the growing season in parts of Western Canada and poor conditions throughout the Prairies during the harvest, yields rose 0.5% to 40.0 bushels per acre.

 

Harvested area in Manitoba declined 5.0% to 3.2 million acres in 2019, while yields fell 3.0% to 42.0 bushels per acre. As a result, canola production in the province was down 7.9% to 3.1 million tonnes in 2019.

 

 

Nationally, farmers reported that corn for grain production fell 3.5% to 13.4 million tonnes in 2019. The decrease stemmed from lower yields, which fell 4.8% to 147.2 bushels per acre. The decline was partially offset by a 1.4% increase in harvested area. Corn production was likely affected by cold and wet conditions during the spring, which delayed planting, as well as dry conditions throughout the growing season and poor weather during harvest in Ontario and Quebec, where approximately 85% of the corn in Canada is grown.

 

 

Nationally, soybean production fell 18.5% to 6.0 million tonnes in 2019. The decrease was attributable to lower harvested area (down 10.6% to 5.6 million acres) and yields (down 8.8% to 39.6 bushels per acre). Poor weather conditions throughout the major soybean-producing provinces likely contributed to the decrease in yields from a year earlier.

 

Farmers in Manitoba reported a lower harvested area for the second consecutive year, down 24.5% to 1.4 million acres in 2019. Yields fell 14.1% to 29.2 bushels per acre, bringing production down 35.2% from 2018 to 1.1 million tonnes—the lowest level in the province since 2014.

 

 

Nationally, farmers reported that barley production rose 23.9% to 10.4 million tonnes in 2019. Harvested area was up 13.9% to 6.7 million acres, while yields rose 8.9% to 70.8 bushels per acre.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.