'It's devastating'
Weather records showed that much of Canada's prairies, notably in Saskatchewan province, had received record rainfall over the last four months.
|
West Canada crop forecasts, change on June estimate, (and on 2009-10)
All wheat: 18.45m tonnes, -450,000 tonnes, (-24%)
Includes durum: 2.9m tonnes, -300,000 tonnes, (-47%)
Barley: 7.5m tonnes, -100,000 tonnes, (-15.7%)
Unsown area: 10.5m acres
CWB bulk grain exports: 15.1m tonnes, N/A, (-19.7%)
Source: CWB |
While most of the excess was received in the spring, heavy rains had persisted in many regions over the past month, when Saskatoon had received more than twice the average rainfall.
Allen Oberg, the CWB chairman, said: "Farmers are resilient, but when you cannot even get seed into the ground, it's devastating."
Ian White, the CWB chief executive, added: "A great many farmers are not going to have a good year."
Export hit
Durum, the type of wheat used in pasta, took the brunt of the latest downgrade, with the production estimate cut by 300,000 tonnes to 2.9m tonnes. Production at that level would be a little over half last year's.
The board also cut its estimate for the region's barley harvest by 100,000 tonnes to 7.5m tonnes.
The cuts would limit to 15.1m tonnes the board's grain exports, a fall of nearly 20% on last year's result, and below the long-term average.
The 30% jump in wheat prices in Chicago and Paris this month reflects expectations that, with exports limited from Canada and especially the former Soviet Union, European and US grain will be in greater international demand.
Canada was the world's second-biggest wheat exporting country in 2009-10.
PRINTABLE VERSION
EMAIL TO A FRIEND
RSS FEEDS
