Quality of western Canadian canola, 2009

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Weather and production review

Weather review

Temperature and precipitation patterns for the 2009 western Canadian growing season can be found on AAFC web site. By the end of August, growth was several weeks behind normal due to the significantly below normal temperatures during May, June, July and August. However, most of the canola harvested in Manitoba and the southern part of Saskatchewan and Alberta was completed by the end of September due to significantly higher than normal September temperatures. Snow fall in October in most of the prairies temporarily stopped the harvest. Harvesting in some areas of Saskatchewan and Alberta resumed in a warmer than normal November with approximately 92% of the total harvest completed by the middle of November.

Production and grade information

Western Canadian farmers planted 6.5 million hectares of canola in 2009, similar to last year’s area. Statistics Canada’s Field Crop Reporting Series No. 8 reported that the 2009 western Canada mean yield of 1900 kg/ha, higher than the 1700 kg/ha reported in 2008 and the record high 1800 kg/ha reported for 2005. This is well above the 10-year mean of 1465 kg/ha.

Western Canadian producers are expected to harvest 11.7 million metric tonnes of canola, a 6.5% decrease from last year’s record production of 12.56 million metric tonnes. According to Statistics Canada’s estimates of provincial production (December 3, 2009, Field Crop Reporting Series), Manitoba (MB), Saskatchewan (SK), and Alberta/British Columbia (AB/BC) accounted for 23.9%, 48.7% and 27.4% respectively of the total canola production).

The grade pattern of the 2009 canola crop was similar to that in 2008 and considerably better than in 2004. Overall, distinctly green seed (DGR) levels were much less of a degrading factor than in the frost-affected 2004 crop. Snow in October, might have resulted in some regional downgrading in northern areas of Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Seeded area and production for western Canadian canola

	Seeded area (thousand hectares)		Production area1 (thousand tonnes)		Average production2 (thousand tonnes)
	2009	2008	2009	2008	1999–2008
1 Source: Field Crop Reporting Series, No. 8, December 3, 2009; Statistics Canada
2 Source: Field Crop Reporting Series, revised final estimates for 1999-2008
3 Includes the part of the Peace River area that is in British Columbia
Manitoba	1,295.00	1,254.50	2,828.10	2,576.40	1,690.80
Saskatchewan	3,176.90	3,095.80	5,726.60	5,629.10	3,472.90
Alberta3	2,053.80	2,128.70	3,206.90	4,354.50	2,772.80
Western Canada	6,525.60	6,479.00	11,761.60	12,560.00	7,978.50

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