Gains forecast for Canadian field crops

OTTAWA, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- The majority of Canadian field crops were forecast to see increased yields for 2008, the Statistics Canada agency reported from Ottawa Friday.

While weather will ultimately affect actual production, the agency said farmers anticipate producing 10.4 million tons of canola based on 15.6 million acres seeded, exceeding the 2007 record production of 9.5 million tons.

The report said about 98 percent of canola production is in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, which have had some periods of excessive rainfall and hail this year.

The agency said the increase in canola was likely farmers' response to market demand for biodiesel coupled with the high prices at the time of planting.

Total soybean production in Ontario and Quebec was forecast to reach a record at 3.2 million tons, the agency said.

Of the few crops forecast to decline was grain corn, 95 percent of which is grown in Ontario and Quebec. In Ontario, winter wheat was rotated into much of the land used to grow grain corn and soybeans, resulting in a production decrease of 12.6 percent to 6.1 million tons. In Quebec, more than 100,000 acres was rotated out of corn into soybeans, StatsCan said.