CANADA (11 October)
Predominantly cool and wet conditions during the 2004 growing season have resulted in slow crop development and a later than normal harvest. As of early October, when the wheat harvest in Western Canada should normally be almost complete, only about 50 percent of the wheat crop had been gathered, and the quality was reported to be below average. However, despite expectation that the final area of wheat harvested this year will be down by about 5 percent compared to last year, the aggregate output is forecast to increase by almost 4 percent to 24.5 million tonnes, reflecting a higher average yield compared to 2003 when drought affected some parts. Output of barley, the main small coarse grain crop is also expected to increase by about 6 percent compared to last year, to reach 13 million tonnes. Output of maize will drop because of reduced plantings and lower yields expected.