OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA — Prospects for Canada’s wheat and canola harvests have improved significantly in recent months as crops recovered from dry conditions that threatened yields, according to a Statistics Canada report.

In its Dec. 4 annual report based on a farmer survey, the government agency estimated all-wheat production at 32 million tonnes, the second-lowest in the past six years, but an increase from its September estimate of 29.8 million tonnes. 

Farmers harvested 24.8 million tonnes of spring wheat, up from the previous estimate of 22.6 million tonnes. Durum wheat production of 4 million tonnes was the second-smallest harvest in 13 years and a slight reduction from the previous estimate.

Harvested area for all wheat was 26.39 million acres, up from 24.9 million acres in 2022, with spring wheat area up 7% and durum wheat relatively unchanged.

The canola harvest weighed in at 18.3 million tonnes, up from 17.4 million tonnes in the previous report but down 2% from last year and third lowest since 2015. Canola acres increased to 21.88 million acres in 2023, up from 21.24 million acres the previous year.