Canadian winter wheat conditions variable but decent overall

Conditions for the winter wheat crops across western Canada are variable but relatively decent overall, according to industry contacts.

Western Canadian farmers in the three Prairie provinces planted 650,000 acres of winter wheat this past fall, according to Statistics Canada data. That compares with 1.21 million acres the previous year. The late harvest in 2009 was behind the reduction in acres, as farmers ran out of time to plant winter wheat before crop insurance deadlines came up.

For the winter wheat that was planted, "we've had some cold temperatures, but we've also had reasonably adequate snow cover across most of the eastern growing areas," said Bruce Burnett, director of weather and market analysis with the Canadian Wheat Board. In the western Prairies the snow cover has been more variable. "In north central Saskatchewan and over into north central Alberta there hasn't been as much snow as we'd typically get," said Burnett, although he added that those regions are not large winter wheat-producing areas. "For the bulk of the area we've had enough snow cover," Burnett said.

As far as the temperatures are concerned, the winter wheat growing areas have gone through a couple of freeze/thaw cycles, which is not great for the wheat, said Burnett, but "it wouldn't have been enough to cause a lot of damage."

Jake Davidson, executive manager of Winter Cereals Canada, said in his area of western Manitoba there has been a lot of snow this winter, which is good for the winter wheat. However, the snow has often been followed by strong winds that blew all of the beneficial snow cover away. In those areas, "the fields are stripped pretty bare," said Davidson.

He said it was hard to venture a guess on how the winter wheat on the whole was faring, but noted that localized conditions would play a large part in determining how the fields look in the spring.

Davidson said Winter Cereals Manitoba and Winter Cereals Canada will be holding their annual general meeting and conference in Winkler, Manitoba, on March 10. By that time, Davidson said, he expects the winter wheat growers will have a better handle on how their crops fared through the winter.