The Canadian oat harvest in 2023 will be half that of last year

Canada, the world's leading exporter of oats to the world market, is reducing production and supply of this crop, despite the fact that the market for oatmeal and oat milk is growing rapidly. In its Dec. 4 crop production report, Statistics Canada estimates Canada's 2023 oat production at 2,635,574 tonnes, down 50% from 2022's 5,226,465 tonnes and even down 9% than the 2,898,619 tonnes produced in 2021, when the decline was caused by drought. In 2023, farmers reduced the number of acres planted to oats to 2,527,000 acres, the lowest on record, according to Statistics Canada. The agency says October shipments of Canadian oats totaled 154,020 tonnes, down 64% from September's 424,896 tonnes and down 29% from October 2022's 218,056 tonnes. Total Canadian oat shipments for the August-October period were 883,231 tonnes, down 2.1% from last year's period and 7% below the five-year average. Meanwhile, demand for oat-based dairy alternatives and other oat products shows no signs of ...