2022 Canadian Barley & Crop Progress Update
August 5th, 2022
SEEDED AREA ESTIMATES
On July 5th, Statistics Canada released its second, survey-based estimate of crop seeded area in Canada. The following are the highlights of the report with respect to barley:
- At 7.042 mln acres, Canada’s barley seeded area is down 15.1% compared with 2021, however this is only marginally lower than the 5-year average and above the 10-year average of 6.949 mln acres.
- Saskatchewan seeded area is down 25% year over year, 7% lower than the 5-year average but just above the 10-year average of 2.698 mln acres.
- Alberta seeded area is down 8.1%, but still above the 5 and 10-year averages. Manitoba bucked the trend with area up slightly, and well above the 5-year average.
Table 1: Canada Barley Seeded Area Estimates
WEATHER & CROP PROGRESS
2022 crop seeding was delayed in some regions of the Prairies due to precipitation in the Spring, including snowstorms in late April and early May, coupled with prolonged cool temperatures, which delayed producers from getting into their fields. As a result, crops were seeded 1-3 weeks late in many areas in western Canada with seeding continuing well into June this year.
With good rains across much of the Prairies in the latter half of May, June and early July, crops in the majority of areas of the Prairies have had adequate moisture this season, with some areas particularly in eastern Saskatchewan and Manitoba having excessive moisture and in some cases crops did not get seeded or were washed out. In other parts of the Prairies, including central and southern parts of Saskatchewan and southern Alberta, this growing season has been very dry, and with recent hot weather in the latter part of July, some of the barley is stressed and will result in below average yields.
The graph below shows precipitation across the Prairies as a percent of average, with the eastern Prairies receiving will above normal rainfall while parts of central and southern Saskatchewan, southern Alberta and even the Peace country have had below or well below average rain fall this year.
Graph 1: Percent of Average Precipitation April 1- August 3, 2022
This same hot weather in the last two weeks of July however has advanced crop development in some of the areas that were delayed, in some cases bringing crops back to an average development stage for this time of year. As of July 18, Saskatchewan agriculture reported that 65% of crops were at the normal stage of development, 7% ahead of average while 28% were behind. In Alberta plant development is reported as in line with the 10 year averages, while in Manitoba the southwest region where much of the barley is grown remains 2 weeks behind normal.
