Bin-Busting Harvest in Canada Seen Adding to Global Wheat Supply

(Bloomberg) -- Canadian farmers are poised add to a global glut of wheat with a bin-busting harvest.

Wheat production in Canada, excluding durum, may reach 31.9 million metric tons, up 16% from a year earlier and the biggest harvest ever, according to results of a crop tour of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta organized by Winnipeg, Manitoba-based FarmLink. Data collected over a 12-day period in July by crop scouts showed that crops are in better shape with more yield potential compared to a year earlier.

Statistics Canada is poised to release its forecast for Canadian production on Aug. 31.

“Wheat was beyond good looking in the samples,” said Neil Townsend, chief market analyst at FarmLink. The crop “consistently looked like record or near record potential,” he said.

Global supplies are ample, even after adverse weather cut production in parts of Europe and the U.S.

Despite a cold start to planting season, a big crop was expected and there are few areas of concern outside of parts of Alberta, Townsend said. The average yield counted in a couple of hundred wheat fields was “much higher than the published result,” he said. Durum output is forecast as 7 million tons, a 41% increase from a year earlier, according to the data.

Canola production is seen rising to 20.2 million tons, up 8.5% from a year earlier and one of the biggest harvests ever, according to FarmLink.

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