Drought undermines Canada's wheat export prospects

In its August key crop report, Statistics Canada said farmers planted the largest area of wheat in the country since 1997, with 10.7 million hectares for the 2023-24 marketing year. The growth leader was spring wheat, the sown area of which increased by 8% year on year to 8.3 million hectares. But Canada is also experiencing rising temperatures and low soil moisture levels, causing market participants to question the quality of its fresh wheat crop and export potential. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, in its August report, lowered its forecast for total wheat production in 2023-24 to 33.2 million tonnes - down 2% year on year - from the 35.3 million tonnes annual forecast released in July. According to forecasts, wheat exports from Canada in 2023-24 MY will amount to 23.8 million tons, which is lower than 24.6 million tons last season, oilworld.ru reports citing S&P Global Platts. “In 2023-24, the most significant agricultural risk is climate-related as severe drought continues ...