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Crop issues report

2006 Western Canada growing season in review

Bruce Burnett
Weather and Crop Surveillance
Canadian Wheat Board

Seeding

The soil moisture supply in Western Canada was good-to-excellent in most regions for seeding of the 2006 crop, although excess moisture caused delays in northern Saskatchewan. The source of the excess moisture was precipitation received during the 2005 harvest season, as the winter precipitation was generally below normal. The exception to this winter precipitation trend was in northeastern Saskatchewan, which received near record amounts of snowfall during the winter. The combination of above-normal snowfall and excessively wet soils from the fall precipitation caused planting delays in northeastern Saskatchewan. Conversely, the southwestern areas of Saskatchewan and the Peace River region were quite dry during the seeding period. This caused some seeding delays, as farmers waited for rainfall before seeding crops.

Seeding began in the southern areas of the Prairies at the end of April, with slow progress reported until the second week of May. Progress rapidly accelerated during the middle of May and reached 75-per-cent completion by May 22. Planting progress slowed during the next few weeks as heavy rains fell in the northern growing areas of Saskatchewan. Seeding continued in northern Saskatchewan into the third week of June, but farmers were unable to plant all the intended area to annual crops. Approximately 800 000 hectares were left fallow due to the wet conditions in northeastern Saskatchewan. Temperatures were mostly above normal during seeding, which resulted in rapid germination and emergence of the crop. Crops in the southern and central Prairies were about one week ahead of normal development by the end of June.

Compared to 2005-06, the spring wheat area in Western Canada increased by 13.2 per cent this year, to 8.06 million hectares and the winter wheat area jumped to 289 000 hectares (an increase of 77 per cent). Area seeded to durum area by 26.4 per cent to 1.72 million hectares, and barley decreased by 24 per cent to 3.6 million hectares. The drop in area seeded to barley was caused by both economic factors and the poor planting conditions in northeastern Saskatchewan.

Growing season

The above-normal temperatures experienced during the spring continued through the months of July and August. Average monthly temperatures were generally one-to-four degrees above normal across the Prairies, with the largest deviations seen in the eastern growing areas. Maximum temperature deviations were even higher, but relatively cool evening temperatures helped crops survive the hot weather. Precipitation amounts were well below normal in all areas of the Prairies during the July-through-August period. Southern and central areas received between 25 and 50 per cent of normal precipitation, while northern growing areas received between 50 and 75 per cent of normal. The combination of hot temperatures and a lack of moisture stressed crops and lowered yield potential. The dry conditions did keep disease pressure in the crop to a minimum and the stressful conditions advanced crop development two-to-three weeks ahead of normal in most growing areas. The northeastern areas of Saskatchewan were an exception to this trend, as crop development was close to normal due to the late planting during the spring. Winter cereal crop development was rapid, with harvest beginning in July in some southern areas. Spring cereal harvest was also early and most regions were beginning to harvest by the mid-August.

Harvest

The early start to the harvest was a sharp contrast to the delayed harvests of the previous two growing seasons. The hot, mostly dry conditions experienced during August resulted in rapid winter cereal harvest during the first half of the month. Over 90 per cent of the winter wheat was harvested by mid-August. Spring wheat and barley harvesting proceeded rapidly in the second half of August and approximately 40 per cent of the spring cereal crops were harvested at the end of August. The dry, warm conditions continued into September, which allowed 90 per cent most of spring wheat and barley crops to be harvested by the mid-month. Cooler, wet conditions prevailed in the last half of September, which slowed the harvest and prevented completion of the harvest until October.

Despite the dry, hot conditions during the summer, the yields for crops in Western Canada were close to average. Total wheat production for Western Canada is estimated at 23.4 million tonnes, while barley output is expected to drop from the previous year to 9.3 million tonnes. Spring wheat production is estimated at 18.8 million tonnes, while durum dropped to 3.5 million tonnes. Winter wheat production in Western Canada is expected to be one million tonnes. Spring wheat yields are forecast to reach 2.4 tonnes per hectare, while durum yields are only 2.1 tonnes per hectare. Barley yields are expected to be lower than last year, at 2.9 tonnes per hectare. The quality of the wheat and barley crops is excellent, due to the lack of disease, early harvest and the dry weather experienced during August and early September.

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