Canada barley seeded area set to rise again in 2016
April 25, 2016
Barley seeded area in Canada is projected to grow by 3.8% according to Statistics Canada’s March 2016 Principal field crop areas, based on a producer survey and released on April 21. Producers intend to seed 6.78 mln acres (2.74 mln ha) compared with 6.53 mln acres (2.64 mln ha) in 2015. This follows an 11% increase between 2014 and 2015. Using a trend yield of 65 bushel/acre (3.5 t/ha) would result in a crop of 8.65 mln tonnes, up from 8.23 mln T last year and 7.1 mln T in 2014. Strong prices for malting barley is a factor driving interest in seeding barley this year. And according the AAFC’s Outlook for Principal Field Crops released April 13, feed barley cash prices are higher than the average of recent years. With virtually no malting barley left available after two consecutive years poor harvest weather, Canada is hoping to replenish stocks this year to meet rising global demand for malting barley and malt.
