Barley Harvest Annual Report 2022

Barley production in 2022

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Annual production statistics

In 2022, the total area seeded with barley in western Canada was 2.761 million hectares. This is lower than last year (3.262 million hectares), but close to the 10-year average (2.684 million hectares) (Table 2.1). Barley production in western Canada in 2022 is estimated at 9.666 million tonnes. This is approximately 46% higher than last year and 17% higher than the 10-year average (Table 2.2). The favourable growing conditions in 2022 resulted in an estimated barley yield of 70.5 bushels per acre (BPA), higher than the 10-year average yield (64.7 BPA) (Table 2.3 and Figure 2.3).

Table 2.1 Area (million hectares) seeded with barley in Canada
Area seeded with barley (million hectares)
  2022Footnote1 2021 10-year averageFootnote2
Manitoba 0.171 0.167 0.162
Saskatchewan 1.126 1.500 1.092
Alberta 1.438 1.565 1.405
British Columbia 0.026 0.030 0.025
Western Canada 2.761 3.262 2.684
Canada 2.851 3.362 2.812
Figure 2.1 Annual comparison of area (million hectares) seeded with barley in western Canada
Annual comparison of area (million hectares) seeded with barley in western Canada
Details
Area seeded with barley (million hectares)
  Western Canada Alberta Saskatchewan Manitoba
2012 2.84 1.54 1.06 0.225
2013 2.75 1.50 1.02 0.206
2014 2.28 1.32 0.82 0.130
2015 2.57 1.42 0.95 0.182
2016 2.58 1.38 1.00 0.168
2017 2.22 1.15 0.94 0.107
2018 2.50 1.26 1.09 0.131
2019 2.88 1.44 1.28 0.136
2020 2.94 1.48 1.26 0.168
2021 3.26 1.57 1.50 0.167
2022 2.76 1.44 1.13 0.171
Table 2.2 Barley production (million tonnes) in Canada
Barley production (million tonnes)
  2022Footnote1 2021 10-year averageFootnote2
Manitoba 0.657 0.432 0.550
Saskatchewan 3.551 2.547 3.213
Alberta 5.381 3.571 4.454
British Columbia 0.077 0.063 0.060
Western Canada 9.666 6.613 8.277
Canada 9.987 6.959 8.686
Figure 2.2 Annual comparison of barley production (million tonnes) in western Canada
Annual comparison of barley production (million tonnes) in western Canada.
Details
Production of barley (million tonnes)
  Western Canada Alberta Saskatchewan Manitoba
2012 7.49 4.46 2.35 0.62
2013 9.80 5.55 3.41 0.76
2014 6.70 4.13 2.17 0.36
2015 7.82 4.29 2.86 0.60
2016 8.42 4.40 3.38 0.59
2017 7.52 3.91 3.14 0.44
2018 8.00 4.00 3.44 0.50
2019 10.00 4.96 4.45 0.53
2020 10.42 5.28 4.39 0.69
2021 6.61 3.57 2.55 0.43
2022 9.67 5.38 3.55 0.66
Table 2.3 Average barley yield (bushels per acre) in Canada
Average barley yield (bushels per acre)
  2022Footnote1 2021 10-year averageFootnote2
Manitoba 74.3 54.8 69.6
Saskatchewan 63.4 35.5 59.7
Alberta 75.9 47.4 67.8
British Columbia 59.5 41.0 57.7
Western Canada 70.5 42.2 64.7
Canada 70.4 43.0 64.3
Figure 2.3 Annual comparison of average barley yield (bushels per acre) in western Canada
Yield Annual comparison of average barley yield (bushels per acre) in western Canada
Details
Average barley yield (bushels per acre)
  Manitoba Saskatchewan Alberta
2012 54.6 43.9 59.9
2013 75.5 66.1 75.6
2014 58.2 53.7 66.3
2015 68.8 60.7 68.3
2016 72.0 69.8 75.9
2017 80.4 66.4 71.8
2018 75.3 62.7 66.8
2019 76.9 69.3 72.4
2020 79.9 68.7 74.0
2021 54.8 35.5 47.4
2022 74.3 63.4 75.9

Distribution of barley classes

Barley is grown across the Canadian prairies and is used for malting, food, and general purposes (feed and forage). Based on insured commercial acres in 2022, general purpose barley accounted for 53.2% of the area seeded with barley in Alberta and British Columbia while malting barley accounted for 42.7% (Figure 2.4a). In Saskatchewan, the majority of the area seeded with barley (56.2%) was planted with malting barley varieties (Figure 2.4a). In Manitoba, approximately 40.5% of the area seeded with barley was planted with malting varieties and 54.1% with general purpose varieties (Figure 2.4a). Across western Canada in 2022, the area seeded with barley consisted of 48.2% malting barley, 44.3% general purpose barley, and 2.4% food barley (Figure 2.4b).

Figure 2.4a Distribution of barley classes as a percentage of total area seeded with barley in each province in 2022Footnote3
Distribution of barley classes as a percentage of total area seeded with barley in each province in 2022
Details
% of area seeded with barley
  Malting Food General purpose Not specified
Alberta 42.7 4.0 53.2 0.1
Saskatchewan 56.2 0.3 31.3 12.2
Manitoba 40.5 4.0 54.1 1.4
Figure 2.4b Distribution of barley classes as a percentage of area seeded with barley in western Canada from 2017-2022Footnote3
Distribution of barley classes as a percentage of area seeded with barley in western Canada from 2017-2022
Details
% of area seeded with barley
  Malting Food General purpose Not specified
2017 60.8 1.3 31.7 6.2
2018 56.3 1.9 36.5 5.3
2019 55.1 2.2 37.3 5.4
2020 53.7 2.4 38.5 5.4
2021 50.4 2.3 42.3 5.0
2022 48.2 2.4 44.3 5.1

Distribution of malting varieties

In 2022, CDC Copeland and AAC Synergy were the most common cultivars of malting barley grown in western Canada (Table 2.4). The area seeded with CDC Copeland was 31.2% in 2022, a decrease from 34.8% in 2021 (Table 2.4 and Figure 2.5). The area seeded with AAC Synergy, which has been steadily growing since 2015, increased only slightly to 28.5% from 28.2% in 2021. The area seeded with AC Metcalfe decreased to 9.2% from 11.2% in 2021 (Figure 2.5). AAC Connect is becoming a popular variety whose acreage shows a steady growth and in 2022, it increased to 9.7% from 8.7% in 2021. The area planted with recently registered two-rowed cultivars, especially CDC Fraser, CDC Copper, CDC Churchill, and Sirish, continued to grow. In 2022, the area planted with CDC Bow decreased to 1.9% from 2.7% in 2021 (Figure 2.6). The newer malting barley varieties accounted for approximately 15.4% of the total area seeded with malting barley varieties in western Canada (Table 2.4).

The production of six-rowed malting barley continued to decline. In 2022, six-rowed cultivars accounted for approximately 2.7% of the total area seeded with malting barley, down from 2.8% in 2021 and 3.3% in 2020. Legacy, Celebration and Tradition remained the top three six-rowed varieties (Table 2.4).

In each province, the production of two-rowed cultivars predominated (Table 2.4). CDC Copeland and AAC Synergy were predominant in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The area seeded with malting barley in Manitoba was relatively low, compared to other western provinces. In 2022, the most popular cultivars in Manitoba were AAC Synergy and AAC Connect, followed by CDC Copeland (Table 2.4).

Figure 2.5 Comparison of the area seeded with top malting barley cultivars in western Canada from 2014 to 2022Footnote3
Comparison of the area seeded with top malting barley cultivars in western Canada from 2014 to 2022.
Details
% of area seeded with malting barley in western Canada
  CDC Copeland AC Metcalfe AAC Synergy AAC Connect
2014 29.8 38.9 0.2 0.0
2015 35.4 38.5 0.8 0.0
2016 44.7 34.2 5.2 0.0
2017 48.8 32.0 7.4 0.1
2018 46.3 29.8 11.2 0.8
2019 44.0 23.7 19.2 2.1
2020 42.4 17.7 22.5 5.2
2021 34.7 11.2 28.1 8.6
2022 31.2 9.2 28.5 9.7
Figure 2.6 Comparison of the area seeded with recently registered malting barley cultivars in Western Canada from 2016 to 2022Footnote3Footnote4
Comparison of the area seeded with recently registered malting barley cultivars in Western Canada from 2016 to 2022. CDC Bow (2015), CDC Fraser (2016), Sirish (2017), and CDC Copper (2018); year in brackets indicates the date of variety registration.
Details
% of area seeded with malting barley in western Canada
  CDC Bow CDC Fraser CDC Copper CDC Churchill Sirish
2016 0.01 0.00 0.00 NSFootnote5 0.00
2017 0.26 0.01 0.00 NS 0.00
2018 0.91 0.03 0.01 NS 0.02
2019 2.01 0.53 0.03 NS 0.33
2020 2.71 1.67 0.12 0.02 1.58
2021 2.69 3.28 0.92 0.26 4.84
2022 1.80 3.80 1.30 0.90 7.60
Table 2.4 Distribution of malting barley cultivars as a percentage (%) of area seeded with malting barley in western Canada in 2022Footnote3
% of area seeded with malting barley in western Canada in 2022
Malting barley cultivars Alberta Saskatchewan Manitoba Western Canada
2-rowed % % % %
CDC Copeland 13.31 16.78 0.81 31.15
AAC Synergy 11.95 14.87 1.54 28.49
AAC Connect 3.54 4.32 1.52 9.67
AC Metcalfe 4.06 4.45 0.55 9.19
Sirish 7.02 0.09 0.07 7.55
CDC Fraser 1.11 2.29 0.38 3.78
CDC Bow 0.98 0.71 0.12 1.82
CDC Copper 1.00 0.22 0.05 1.31
CDC Churchill 0.54 0.34 0.05 0.93
Newdale 0.08 0.40 0.34 0.83
Cerveza 0.57 0.10 0.04 0.71
Bill Coors 100 0.57 0.04 0.00 0.61
Bentley 0.26 0.02 0.00 0.28
CDC Meredith 0.09 0.19 0.00 0.28
CDC Goldstar 0.00 0.15 0.00 0.15
CDC Platinum Star 0.00 0.15 0.00 0.15
AB Brewnet 0.08 0.00 0.00 0.08
CDC Clear 0.00 0.06 0.00 0.06
Other 0.21 0.12 0.00 0.33
Total 2-rowed 45.56 45.30 5.47 97.34
6-rowed % % % %
Legacy 0.35 1.54 0.04 1.94
Celebration 0.00 0.16 0.31 0.47
Tradition 0.00 0.00 0.16 0.16
Other 0.06 0.00 0.03 0.09
Total 6-rowed 0.42 1.70 0.54 2.66

Distribution of general purpose and food barley varieties

Based on the 2022 insured acreage in western Canada, food (F) and general purpose (GP) barley varieties accounted for 46.7% of the total area seeded with barley (Figure 2.4b). CDC Austenson continued to predominate the area seeded with GP barley cultivars; however, the area seeded with CDC Austenson decreased to 41.5% in 2022 from 46.0% in 2021. (Table 2.5 and Figure 2.7). The area seeded with Brahma, Oreana, and Claymore decreased slightly in 2022 compared to 2021. The acreage of CDC Maverick increased from 3.5% in 2021 to 4.9% in 2022.

Figure 2.7 Comparison of areas seeded with the top five general purpose and food barley cultivars in western Canada from 2016 to 2022Footnote3
CDC Austenson and Brahma, predominated the general purpose barley cultivars.
Details
% of total area seeded with general purpose and food barley in western Canada
  CDC Austenson Brahma Oreana Claymore Canmore CDC Maverick
2016 34.40 6.80 0.01 0.02 1.23 1.28
2017 35.23 11.15 0.07 0.19 3.27 2.07
2018 38.19 9.66 0.42 1.88 4.65 3.02
2019 40.42 10.91 2.48 2.52 5.54 3.68
2020 42.90 11.00 4.10 4.69 5.70 3.86
2021 46.10 10.63 7.12 6.04 5.04 3.49
2022 41.45 9.43 6.83 5.88 5.12 4.87
Table 2.5 Distribution of barley cultivars as a percentage (%) of area seeded with general purpose and food barley in western Canada in 2022Footnote3
  % of area seeded with general purpose and food barley in western Canada in 2022
General purpose and food barley cultivars Alberta Saskatchewan Manitoba Western Canada
CDC Austenson 20.19 16.09 4.97 41.45
Brahma 9.12 0.09 0.00 9.43
Oreana 6.02 0.78 0.03 6.83
Claymore 3.03 2.44 0.41 5.88
Canmore (F) 4.38 0.13 0.61 5.12
CDC Maverick 1.62 3.08 0.17 4.87
Conlon 1.88 0.11 2.19 4.18
Champion 2.64 0.90 0.03 3.57
Xena 2.94 0.32 0.00 3.26
CDC Coalition 2.81 0.00 0.00 2.81
Esma 2.17 0.08 0.22 2.47
Altorado 1.52 0.58 0.11 2.21
CDC Cowboy 0.83 0.94 0.00 1.77
AB Cattlelac 0.76 0.48 0.11 1.35
AB Advantage 0.84 0.48 0.00 1.33
AC Rosser 0.08 0.24 0.00 0.32
CDC Thompson 0.28 0.00 0.00 0.28
Sundre 0.14 0.11 0.00 0.26
Ponoka 0.25 0.00 0.00 0.25
Seebe 0.23 0.00 0.00 0.23
Amisk 0.23 0.00 0.00 0.23
CDC Trey 0.23 0.00 0.00 0.23
Gadsby 0.16 0.04 0.00 0.20
AB Wrangler 0.09 0.05 0.00 0.14
AB Hague 0.07 0.06 0.00 0.13
Alston 0.11 0.00 0.00 0.11
CDC McGwire (HB, F) 0.00 0.11 0.00 0.11
Other 0.69 0.16 0.03 0.97
Total general purpose and food 63.3 27.3 8.9 100
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