OTTAWA — Despite the world preparing for its largest ever corn and soybean crops, Canada and Ontario yields will not break any records.
But yields are expected to be up, at least over last year. Canadian farmers should expect an overall average yield of 158.2 bu/ac corn and a final tonnage of 13.9 million metric tonnes according to Statistics Canada.
Average soybean yield are expected to be 44.6 bu/ac and a final tonnage of 6 million metric tonnes. That’s also despite crop area falling: harvested corn acres were predicted to slip 3.4 per cent to 3.5 million acres Canada-wide, and soybean acres were expected to drop 12.5 per cent, to 4.9 million acres.
Ontario corn yields are expected to be higher than normal at 159.6 bu/ac and soybean yields were anticipated at 46.1 bu/ac. Neither will produce a record-breaking harvest, although corn will come close to hitting the 2017-2018 record of just over 8.7 million tonnes. Soybeans, however, are expected to fall well short of 2018’s record 4.2 million tonne crop, with a final yield estimate for 2020 at 3.6 million tonnes. Falling acreage is partly to blame: crop area fell eight per cent, down to 2.8 million acres.
