Quality of Canadian Soybean, oilseed-type 2020

Weather review

Soybeans are typically seeded in early May in eastern Canada and from the last week of May to the first week of June in western Canada. In New Brunswick, seeding was mainly finished by the first week in June. Dry conditions during the spring and summer delayed emergence and plant growth. The early seeded fields had average yields while later seeded fields suffered with low yields. Prince Edward Island also struggled with drought during the growing season.

This year, Ontario and Quebec experienced some delays in seeding, as most of the crop was seeded by the end May. June and July were dry, but timely rains in August and good harvest conditions in the fall brought record yields Ontario and average yields in Quebec.

In Manitoba and Saskatchewan, relatively good weather in spring allowed nearly all of the crop to be seeded by the end of May and early June. Despite challenging conditions, such as inconsistent rainfall and some frost, emergence and crop growth did well. Grasshoppers were a concern in some regions in July and August, and some damage incurred. The soybean crop continued to develop well into July and August with most reports stating the crop was in fair condition. While some regions received adequate moisture in August, but not every region received enough to reach their yield potential. Harvest started by the last week in September and was nearly complete by mid-October. The overall yield was better than expected.

Sources

• Canada weather maps
• New Brunswick crop report
• Ontario crop report
• Manitoba crop report
• Saskatchewan crop report

Production and grade information

Seeded area and production data for 2020 and 2019 are in Table 2. In 2020, seeded soybean areas decreased when compared to 2019. The decrease occurred in every region of the country where the seeded areas dropped by close to 10%.

Up until three years ago, Canada’s soybean production had been increasing steadily since 2007 as production had been increasing in Ontario and Manitoba. Production in the west has decreased in recent years, mainly due to poor weather conditions for soybean production and uncertainty in the market.

In spite of a decrease in seeded area, the production in Canada increased slightly in 2020 by around 5% compared to 2019 (Table 2). In 2020, about 61.5% of Canadian soybeans were produced in Ontario, 18.3% in Manitoba and 18.2% in Quebec. The average yield in Canada was 3,115 kilograms per hectare (kg/ha), but the yields varied across the country (averages of 3,409 kg/ha in Ontario, 3,253 kg/ha in Quebec and 2,509 kg/ha in Manitoba).