Canadian farmers look to sow a record-large area with canola and bigger acreages of wheat, oats and barley, as dry conditions potentially give them the best planting weather in several years, a Reuters grain industry poll showed To be sure, farmers won’t sink a single seed into the soil for almost another two months, giving price fluctuations and weather ample time to drastically change their plans. But the survey of 17 analysts and traders underscores optimism that farmers in Canada, the No. 7 wheat grower and No. 2 canola/rapeseed producer, will be able to sow more of the Prairies than they have in recent years when flooding made many fields impassable. The trade sees, on average, canola acres rising more than 3 percent to 19.5 million acres, with farmers bumping up all-whea production by 10 percent to 23.6 million acres. Barley area looks to swell by 19 percent to 7.7 million acres and oat acres should climb 9 percent to 3.4 million acres, according to the survey. Last year, floods took much of southwestern Manitoba and southeastern Saskatchewan out of production.Even with the industry penciling in a record canola area, new-crop ICE Canada November canola futures have climbed 4 percent so far in 2012, supported by strong canola demand and concerns about South American soybeans. If dryness persists through March, however, farmers are likely to switch some acres to wheat from canola, which is planted in shallow soil, said a veteran grain trader.
Source: Reuters
