By farmnewsNOW Staff

Agriculture Roundup – Aug. 30, 2023

Aug 30, 2023 | 12:21 PM

Statistics Canada has released its first crop estimates for 2023. It shows that Canadian farmers could produce more corn for grain and soybeans, but less wheat, canola, barley and oats, compared with 2022.

The agency expects canola production will be 6.1 per cent lower than last year at 17.6 million tonnes. The national average is forecasted at 35.4 bushels an acre.

Saskatchewan is expected to produce 6.3 per cent less canola at 9.1 million tonnes while Alberta is expected to be higher than last year at 38.8 bushels an acre. Manitoba comes in at 39.2 bushels an acre.

When it comes to wheat, StatsCan said Saskatchewan is projected to see harvest levels rise by 5.9 per cent, while yields could fall by 25 per cent to 32.1 bushels per acre in 2023.

That is a 20.5 per cent decrease in production, to 12.1 million tonnes.

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Statistics Canada also released its cattle inventory survey recently, painting the picture for yields in Western Canada.

The data shows that calves under one-year-old were 2.71 million head as of July 1. That is down 80,000 head from July 1, 2022, and down 235,000 head from July 1, 2021.

That same data showed that Canadian yearling markets remained relatively unchanged as of last week.

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Sask Party MLA for Wood River David Marit is staying on as Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Crop Insurance.

Marit, however, will assume another role as the Minister Responsible for the Water Security Agency, previously held by MLA Jeremy Cockrill who is now the Minister of Education.

Marit was first elected to the legislature in 2016 and has held the portfolio of Minister of Agriculture since 2018.

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Last week, Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development released a revised quarantine pest list, which no longer includes creeping thistle.

In 2018, Vietnam announced that they would place restrictions on wheat from countries where creeping thistle can be found.

The thistle is an invasive species that crowd out forage grasses in pastures and rangelands and reduce crop yields and production. The creeping thistle is commonly found growing on roadsides, cultivated fields, pastures, and riverbanks.