Where Did StatsCan Find All These Acres?

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Canadian farmers have found some additional acres to seed this year, according to the Statistics Canada planting intentions report published on Friday.

The agency’s projections for the three largest acreage crops — wheat, canola and soybeans — were all higher than analysts were expecting.

Adding up the individual crop and summer fallow categories, the total acres described in Friday’s report are up between 1.5 and 2.5 million versus 2016.

“Is there that much summer fallow land that is going to get put into production or that much pasture being ripped up? It’s hard to figure out how you get an extra two million acres that way,” notes Brian Voth, president of IntelliFarm Inc. “That’s a red flag to me, where there’s that big a discrepancy year after year.”

Factor in the 2-plus million acres in Saskatchewan and Alberta that was unharvested going into winter and the excess moisture that lingers in many areas, and it’s hard to imagine overall acres increasing.

“I think the wheat number (which was flat with last year) is going to end up coming down. I think the canola number, depending what happens with prices here yet, has potential to come down.”

Voth joined us on RealAg Radio on Friday to discuss the remarkably large StatsCan estimates:

Related:

StatsCan’s 2017 acreage estimates (as of April 21, 2017):

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