May 14, 2007

 

Winter wheat crop in western Canada off to very good start

 

 

The winter wheat crop in Western Canada is off to a good start this spring, with the percentage of the crop killed off by cold temperatures during the winter very low, according to an industry source.

 

Jake Davidson, an executive manager with Winter Cereals Canada, said, "Winter wheat crops, based on information provided by our members, appears to be doing very well across most regions of Western Canada."

 

He acknowledged that there were some regions across the prairies where excess moisture on fields has caused some drowning out of the crop.

 

Most of the drowning out occurred due to snow melt and not necessarily from the rain Saskatchewan and Alberta received recently, Davidson said.

 

There was also some damage to winter wheat from severe flooding in the more northerly areas of Saskatchewan and Alberta, he said.

 

There was also some minor winterkill in the more southerly regions where the crop was grown, as snow cover in those areas was not as good as it was in the more central and northern locations.

 

However, the amount of winter wheat lost to winterkill and to excess moisture will be minimal given the bigger picture, Davidson said, pointing out the large amount of area that was seeded to the crop last fall.

 

Statistics Canada in its recent seeding intentions report pegged winter wheat seeded area in Western Canada in the fall of 2006 at 1.105 million acres, which was up significantly from just 690,000 acres the previous year.

 

"Traditionally about 85 percent to 90 percent of the area planted to winter wheat in Canada is harvested," Davidson said, noting that the crop this year was well within that parameter.

 

He said producers were also reporting the application of fertilizers on their winter wheat crops in a timely fashion this spring, resulting in some "pretty good looking crops".