Falling grain and oilseed prices have more farmers gravitating towards pulses, but the traditional canola and spring wheat still remain number one and two in Saskatchewan.

Statistics Canada surveyed over 3,200 provincial farmers from mid-December through mid-January.

Durum is pegged to rise more than five per cent to 5.2 million acres, while spring wheat area is expected to fall three per cent to 8.9 million. SaskAgtoday.com Chief Agricultural Editor Kevin Hursh says durum pencils into rotations better than spring wheat in southern and some central parts of the province.

Canola will be king for another year in Saskatchewan at 11.8 million acres, even though that would be 4.9 per cent less than last year. The canola decline can be attributed to lower prices and concerns about soil moisture.

The Saskatchewan seeding estimates for a few crops are watched with interest by export customers.

Canary seed is expected to increase nearly 10 per cent to  263,800 acres, while mustard is pegged to decline 6.1 per cent to 435,500 acres,  Barley drops slightly to 2.8 million acres,  field pea is up 2.4 percent to 1.6 million acres and flax is down 19.3 percent to 418,500 acres.

Saskatchewan farmers will be seeding more green lentils due to their high prices.

Statistics Canada estimates overall lentil acreage will rise 4.4 percent to 3.8 million acres this year, with a lot of that being greens versus reds.

The official Statistics Canada news release can be viewed below—the next seeding report will be issued on May 7th.

Wheat

At the national level, farmers anticipate planting 27.0 million acres of wheat in 2024, edging up 0.1% from 2023. Spring wheat area is expected to decrease 1.2% to 19.2 million acres, while area seeded to winter wheat is expected to decline 3.6% to 1.5 million acres. Conversely, durum wheat area is anticipated to rise 5.1% to 6.3 million acres.

Farmers in Saskatchewan anticipate planting 0.1% more wheat, totaling 14.2 million acres. Spring wheat area is expected to fall 3.1% to 8.9 million acres, while durum wheat area is anticipated to increase 5.3% to 5.2 million acres.

In Alberta, farmers expect total wheat area to grow 2.2% to 8.1 million acres because of greater spring wheat area (+1.4% to 6.9 million acres), while durum wheat area is expected to increase 4.3% to 1.0 million acres.

Manitoba farmers anticipate planting 3.3 million acres of wheat, down 0.6%.

Canola

Canola area is expected to decrease 3.1% from 2023 to 21.4 million acres in 2024, roughly in line with the five-year average. The decline in expected seeded area may have been driven by lower prices for canola, in addition to other concerns including soil moisture in Western Canada.

In Saskatchewan, the province that produces the most canola, producers anticipate seeding fewer acres to canola, decreasing 4.9% to 11.8 million acres.

Farmers in Alberta anticipate seeding 6.2 million acres of canola, down 2.4%.

In Manitoba, farmers expect seeded area of canola to rise 2.4% to 3.2 million acres.

Barley and oats

Nationwide, barley acreage is expected to fall 2.5% to 7.1 million acres in 2024, possibly because of lower exports and strong competition from other crops.

Barley area is expected to decrease in Saskatchewan (-0.7% to 2.8 million acres), Alberta (-3.7% to 3.7 million acres) and Manitoba (-4.5% to 395,900 acres).

Oat area is expected to rise 21.6% to 3.1 million acres, possibly because of low oat stocks resulting from low production in 2023.

Lentil and field pea

Area seeded to lentils is expected to increase compared with 2023, rising 4.4% to 3.8 million acres in 2024. Farmers in Saskatchewan, where almost 90% of Canada’s lentils are grown, expect seeded area to rise 5.5% to 3.4 million acres, while lentil area in Alberta is expected to decrease 3.7% to 451,000 acres. Farmers across Canada expect to plant more acres of dry peas in 2024, with area anticipated to rise 2.4% to 3.1 million acres compared with 2023.Corn for grain