OTTAWA — Ontario farmers are expected to plant near-record amounts of corn and soybeans this spring, according to Statistics Canada’s principal field crop report.
Ontario growers are expected to plant 2.17 million acres of corn, up slightly from last year’s 2.12 million acres. This year’s number is the third-highest of all time and the highest since 2012 and 2013, when a record 2.225 million acres were planted in each year.
Ontario’s corn acreage this year would be about 58 per cent of Canada’s 3.76 million acres.
Ontario soybean acres are expected to reach 3.02 million, down from last year’s 3.075 million acres, but still the third-highest of all time. This would be the third time in the past five years that Ontario planted at least three million acres of soybeans.
This year’s soybean acreage would be about 47 per cent of all soybean acres planted in Canada (about 6.45 million acres).
The field crop report is based on a survey of 11,600 Canadian farmers from March 2 to 29. Farmers were asked to report their planting intentions for grain, oilseeds and special crops.
