November 2017 Estimate of Production of Principal Field Crops, Alberta

Agri-Food Statistics Update - Issue No: CR17-2

Collected from a variety of sources, the Statistics and Data Development Section monitors statistical indicators of agri-food activity for Alberta. The Agri-Food Statistics Update is designed to provide users with commentary on current issues, trends and new developments related to agriculture and the food and beverage processing industries. Up-to-date statistics are supplemented with informative charts and diagrams. To gauge Alberta’s performance, comparative data and information are often available for Canada and the provinces.

Note to Users: The contents of this document may not be used or reproduced without properly accrediting Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, Economics and Competitiveness Branch, Statistics and Data Development Section.

On December 6, 2017, Statistics Canada released for Canada and the provinces the November estimates of crop production for 2017.

Key Messages

In Alberta, the 2017 crop season started with a wet spring and some unharvested areas from the last season, which resulted in late seeding. Generally, weather conditions during the season were not uniform across the province and resulted in variable seeding and harvest progress, yields and crop quality.
In 2017, the production of selected field crops (including forages) totalled 33.5 million tonnes, down 2.4 per cent from a year ago. Excluding forages, production totalled 24.8 million tonnes, a marginal decline of 0.8 per cent from last year.
Spring wheat production increased 9.1 per cent to 8.7 million tonnes (8.0 million tonnes in 2016), due to higher harvested area, although yield was down.
Barley production fell 11.2 per cent to 3.9 million tonnes (4.4 million tonnes in 2016), as both yield and harvested area decreased.
Canola production increased 10.9 per cent to a record of 6.8 million tonnes (6.2 million tonnes in 2016), and was 35.1 per cent higher than the 10-year average.
Forage production declined 6.6 per cent from last year to 8.7 million tonnes. This was attributed to a lower production of tame hay, despite fodder corn production increasing.

For a complete copy of this update, please download the attached pdf.

For more information about the content of this document, contact Ashan Shooshtarian.
This document is maintained by Rita Splawinski.
This information published to the web on January 8, 2018.
Last Reviewed/Revised on October 18, 2018.