Quality of western Canadian canola 2022

Weather and production review

The agroclimate maps (Figures 2 to 5) were obtained from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Seeding and harvest progress graphs for each province (Figures 6a and 6b) were made using data reported by the provincial reports for Manitoba, for Saskatchewan and for Alberta. The number of hectares (ha) seeded with canola (Figure 7a) and production data (Figure 7b) were obtained from Statistics Canada.

Seeding

The season started with below normal temperatures in April and May (Figure 2), which delayed seeding by about a week in Alberta and Saskatchewan (Figure 6a). Seeding progressed quickly in southern Alberta, whereas the central, northwestern and the northeastern parts of the province were still experiencing cold weather and delayed snow melt. However, 98.9% of seeding in Alberta was completed by the first week of June (Figure 6). Widespread rains in June (Figure 3) allowed the seeded crop to develop.

In Saskatchewan, seed progress was slower than normal this year (Figure 6a). Rains in the eastern part of the province improved the soil moisture conditions but slowed the seeding progress. By the end of May, producers were wrapping up their seeding in the western part of the province but the eastern part was only 50% complete. In early June, some fields in the western part of the province were showing signs of drought but in the eastern parts it was uncertain whether some fields would be seeded due to excess moisture. By mid-May, seeding was considered complete in Saskatchewan with 98% of the crop in the ground.

In Manitoba, extreme cold temperatures associated with large amounts of snow left fields unable to drain and dry properly before seeding. In May, Manitoba also experienced heavy rains that caused overland flooding and field saturation (Figure 3). This delayed the start of seeding by about a month (Figure 6a). Heavy rains also occurred in June (Figure 3), slowing the progress of seeding in Manitoba. By June 28, the Manitoba Crop Report stated that only 93% of the canola crop was seeded (Figure 6a).

Growing season

Alberta received much rain over the entire province in June but precipitation was variable in July and there was almost no rain in August (Figure 3). Warmer than normal temperatures accelerated crop development and 90% of canola fields were forming seed pods by early August. There was a once-in-50 years heat wave (Figure 2) with a significant number of days over 30oC (Figure 5) and a lack of moisture in the southeastern part of the province in August (Figure 3). By the end of August, the canola harvest had started in southern Alberta (Figure 6b).

In Saskatchewan there were warmer than normal temperatures in July (Figure 2). Some areas received too much moisture while others received too little (Figure 3) with crops experiencing drought-like conditions.

Manitoba experienced hot and humid conditions that brought unstable weather with a significant amount of precipitation (Figure 3) during the entire growing season. Crop development was quite uneven with some fields showing crop stress due to too much water early in the season.

Harvest conditions

Once started, the harvest progressed quickly in Alberta due to below normal precipitation and warm temperatures (Figure 2). Similar to 2021, the harvest was considered complete by the first week of October (Figure 6b).

In Saskatchewan, the harvest began in the first week of October, which was earlier than usual. By the first week of September, over half of the canola fields in southwestern Saskatchewan were harvested while in the northeastern part of the province harvesting had just begun. In mid-September, rains slowed and sometimes stopped harvest but this was followed by warm and dry conditions that helped producers complete their harvest in early October.

In Manitoba, the canola harvest started the first week of September, which was much later than normal (Figure 6b). By the third week of September, steady widespread rains caused harvest progress to almost stop for about a week. A warmer than normal October (Figure 2) allowed harvest to proceed and the harvest was considered complete by the end of October, much later than normal (Figure 6b).

Figure 2  Mean temperature differences from normal in the prairie region from April 1 to September 30, 2022

Figure 3  Accumulated precipitation (mm) in the prairie region from May 1 to August 31, 2022

Figure 4  Drought intensity in Canada on May 31 and August 31, 2022

Figure 5  Number of days with temperatures above 30°C in the prairie region from April 1 to July 31 and April 1 to August 31, 2022

Production

The number of hectares seeded with canola in Canada since 2000 is presented in Figure 7a. In 2022, it was estimated that canola producers seeded approximately 356,900 ha less than in 2021 (8,658,600 versus 9,015,600 ha). This is approximately 2.8% less than the 5-year average of 8,908,600 ha and 573,600 ha less than the record set in 2017 when 9,313,400 ha of canola were seeded (Figure 7a).

Statistics Canada estimated the average yield of canola in western Canada to be 2,114 kilograms per hectare (kg/ha). This is much higher than the yield reported in 2021 (1,537 kg/ha) and almost similar to the 5-year average yield (2,160 kg/ha). The yield in 2022 showed a large increase compared to 2021 but was still lower than the yields observed from 2015 to 2020 when average yields ranged from 2,200 to 2,400 kg/ha. In 2022, the highest average yield was reported in Manitoba at 2,208 kg/ha (1,662 kg/ha in 2021 and 2,321 kg/ha in 2020), followed by Alberta at 2,134 kg/ha (1,551 kg/ha in 2021 and 2,253 kg/ha in 2020) and Saskatchewan at 2,076 kg/ha (1,231 kg/ha in 2021 and 2,395 kg/ha in 2020). This year, the lowest yield was observed in British Columbia at 1,699 kg/ha, which is a slight improvement compared to 2021 (1,600 kg/ha) but similar to what was recorded in 2020 (1,681 kg/ha).

As of February 2022, Statistics Canada reported an estimated Canadian canola production of 18.173 million metric tonnes (MMT). This is more than 4.41 MMT higher than the 2021 production (13.757 MMT), which was the lowest in the last 10 years (Figure 7). The 2022 production is still lower than the 5-year average (19.067 MMT) by about 893,426 tonnes. Since 2017, the decrease in canola production in Canada (Figure 7) has been attributed to the decrease in area seeded with canola combined with adverse growing conditions.

In 2022, Saskatchewan grew 52.5% of the canola in Canada (47.5% in 2021 and 54.5% in 2020). Alberta, Manitoba and British Columbia grew 30.8%, 15.8% and 0.4%, respectively (33.1%, 18.2% and 0.5% in 2021, respectively).