FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 06/01 - CANADA (11 June)
In Canada, with the 2001 spring planting season virtually completed, latest information confirms earlier expectations of a decline in the overall wheat area. The latest official forecast puts the wheat area to be harvested later this year at 10.7 million hectares, 2 percent down from the previous year. In addition, following adversely dry seeding conditions in Alberta and parts of Saskatchewan, the average yield for Western Canada is likely to be less than anticipated earlier and the country’s aggregate wheat output is now forecast at 23.7 million tonnes, some 2 million tonnes down from earlier expectations. For coarse grains, latest indications continue to point to an increase in area. The barley area is expected to increase by 4-5 percent to almost 4.7 million hectares, while that of maize, by 14 percent, to about 1.2 million hectares. However, yield expectations for coarse grains, barley in particular, have also been curbed by the dry planting conditions, and the forecast of aggregate output has been reduced somewhat from earlier this year to about 27 million tonnes. This would, nevertheless, be some 10 percent up from 2000.