SASKATOON – While many prairie farmers have been forced to contend with mountainous snow drifts on their fields, Statistics Canada’s principal field crop report suggests some crops may thrive more than others this year.
The report states that farmers may seed 19.1 million acres of canola, down 11.1 per cent from 2012. This marks the first decline for the crop at a national level since 2006.
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Much of the decline is being driven by Saskatchewan, where farmers are expecting an almost 11 per cent drop.
Meanwhile, spring wheat may rise 14.4 per cent to 19.4 million acres this year. Durum wheat acreage is anticipated to see gains for a third consecutive year to 5.1 million acres in 2013.
Ontario farmers are expected to seed 2.3 million acres of corn for grain, up 2 per cent from 2012 and above the previous record of 2.2 million.
Canadian farmers may also seed a record amount of soybeans, up 3.4 per cent from 2012 to 4.3 million acres.
The March Farm Survey was conducted between March 25 and April 3, with crop planting intentions from about 13,805 farmers recorded.
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