Canadian Farmers Boost Pulse Area

OTTAWA - Jun 27/14 - SNS -- Canadian farmers continued to decrease the amount of land they intentionally left unseeded as they plant record oilseed and pulse crops, judging from Statistics Canada's seeded area estimates for 2014.

Even though total land in pulses could set a new record this year, land in individual categories of pulses were not at record levels. The only record set this year was for soybeans, with total area jumping 23.5% over last year to 5.583 million acres.

However, Statistics Canada indicated that land in summerfallow could end up higher because "some farmers have reported that wet conditions have delayed or may stop seeding in some areas."

This remains an issue in eastern Saskatchewan, with the provincial agriculture department reporting that 7% of the fields in the southeast and 3% in east-central Saskatchewan are too wet to be worked. It is unknown how much impact this had actual seeded area for lentils, peas and soybeans. Provincially, topsoil moisture conditions on cropland are rated as 37% surplus, 61% adequate and 2% short. Further, unless fields dry out, this will have an impact on crop conditions and increase the risk of disease development.

This year's survey of roughly 28,400 farmers took place between May 28 and June 10. Since seeding as not complete, the numbers represent actual and intended acres. It is not unusual for Statistics Canada to modify its seeded area estimate in subsequent surveys. During the previous three years, the final estimate for lentils and mustard was lower than thought in June; while the final seeded area for peas, beans, chickpeas and canaryseed was higher.