Record Specialty Crop Area in Canada

VANCOUVER - Apr 26/10 - SNS -- This year's Statistics Canada seeding intentions report contained numerous surprises in the specialty crop numbers, along with an unexpected increase in the number of acres farmers say they will not produce crops on this year.

For the second year in a row, the seeding intentions estimates came up with a lower than expected lentil number and a higher than expected field pea number. Even so, total land in specialty crops in Canada will be up sharply over last year if farmers stick with their current intentions, hitting a record 8.07 million acres.

Debate over the numbers in the intentions report will also be fueled by the fact the survey of 13,800 Canadian farmers was conducted from March 24 to March 31.

Statistics Canada explained, "Farmers were asked to report their intended plantings of grain, oilseeds and special crops. Farmers may modify their plans prior to planting time as a result of economic and environmental conditions. Some farmers indicated they were still undecided about their final strategies for 2010.

"March intentions acreages will be replaced by estimated actual seeded acreages from subsequent surveys during the year. Final acreage numbers for 2010 will be released on December 3 and are subject to revision for two years."