Canada to raise spring wheat acreage

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Canada to raise spring wheat acreage

Canada’s equivalent of the USDA says producers plan to increase spring wheat planted area this year. Last year’s spring wheat crop in the Canadian Prairies was hit hard by drought, which also impacted production in the northern U.S. Plains. Soil moisture has improved in parts of that region, but other areas remain dry.

Statistics Canada has spring wheat planted area at 17.346 million acres, 7% above a year ago, with corn, soybean, and sunflower acreage also expected to be up on the year. Planted area for corn is seen at 3.715 million acres, 6.4% higher, soybeans are pegged at 5.358 million acres, up 0.7%, and sunflowers are estimated at 112,000 acres, a gain of 10.6%.

Planted area for canola is projected at 20.897 million acres, 7% below last year, even as global demand for vegetable oils remains strong. Winter wheat planted area is expected to be 1.173 million acres, a decline of 13%.

The USDA’s next set of global production estimates is out May 12th.

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