The seeding intentions report estimates national oat area at 3.6 million acres—down six percent from last year. Farmers surveyed in our province said they intend to seed 1.6 million acres, or 11 percent below 2020 levels.

“I think acres will be closer to even,” said Scott Shiels, procurement manager with Grain Millers in Yorkton. “I don’t think we are looking at that big of a drop across the province. I don’t think that number will be accurate by the time seeding is all said and done.”

Shiels says farmers do have a lot of profitable cropping options this year and that means some stiff competition for acres.

“We have seen oat prices in the $4 to $4.75 (a bushel) range locally, which we have never seen at this time of year before. Normally, that would have bought us more acres than we could possibly ever mill,” he said.

Shiels says every buyer is trying to get those acres and everybody has got a price good enough to do it.