Some acreage had not been planted as of June 10 because of excess moisture, but only canola and barley acreage was down from 2012.
Across Canada, corn acreage was a record 3.6 million acres, up almost 3 percent from 2012. The largest percentage increase came in Manitoba, where corn for grain jumped to 365,000 acres, up 22 percent from 2012. Quebec farmers planted one million acres of corn, up 7 percent from 2012, while corn acres in Ontario declined 2 percent from 2012 to 2.2 million acres.
Soybean acres rose 11 percent from 2012 to a record 4.6 million acres in 2013, Statistics Canada said. The bulk of the increase was in Manitoba, where farmers seeded a record 1.1 million acres to soybeans, a 36 percent jump from 2012.
Total wheat area across Canada increased 9 percent from 2012 to 25.9 million acres in 2013. Most of the advance was in spring wheat acreage, up nearly 13 percent from a year ago to 19.1 million acres. Durum wheat increased 4 percent to 4.9 million acres, Statistics Canada said.
In top-producing Saskatchewan, spring wheat acreage increased 14 percent for 9.7 million acres and durum wheat was up 4 percent to 4.3 million acres.
Total Canadian oats acreage increased 18 percent to 3.4 million acres in 2013, Statistics Canada said.
Plantings of canola were 19.7 million acres, down 8 percent from 2012 and the first decline in canola acreage since 2006, Statistics Canada said. Canola acreage fell 8 percent in Saskatchewan, 7 percent in Alberta and 12 percent in Manitoba compared to 2012.
Barley plantings were down 3 percent to 7.2 million acres compared to 2012, Statistics Canada said.
