July 3, 2007

Canada 2007 wheat output may drop by 20 percent

The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) on Monday (July 2) said the country's wheat output this year is likely to decline by 20 percent to 20 million tonnes due to weather conditions. Canada's barley output is seen to jump by 30 percent to 12 million tonnes.

Greg Arason, CWB president, tight supplies would have Canada look to China for imports.

Last month, Bruce Burnett, CWB's head of weather and crop surveillance said the country's wheat output was likely to range from 22 million to 22.5 million tonnes, due to wet season. The projection came after Canadian farmers planted their smallest wheat crop in 37 years this spring, making a more severe cut than traders had expected and helping to push wheat futures to highs not seen for more than 10 years.

Arason's projection for barley output was higher than an estimate of 10.863 million tonnes by Statistics Canada.

Traders have expected excess moisture would push more farmers to plant barley.