The estimate by the International Grains Council (IGC) for Canada’s canola crop this year has been cut by 700,000 tons to 14.8 million tons – an 18% drop year on year because of the country’s ongoing problems surrounding its rail capacity to transport crops affecting farmer’s cash flows and the need to rotate crops. Even though canola offers positive returns as opposed to other crops such as wheat, the fact that old-crop supplies still remain undelivered has left the country’ canola farmers without the cash to purchase inputs or support the next season’s crop, driving farmers to shift to less input intensive crops such as flaxseed or peas. Canada’s dry pea acreage is estimated to jump 21% year on year to 1.61 million hectares. In contrast to its forecast for Canadian canola, the IGC increased its estimate for Australian canola by 200,000 tons to 3.2 million tons on improved soil moisture. With the exception of southern New South Wales and southern Queensland which have been experiencing high temperatures and low rainfall, the crop outlook for Australia is overall a positive one.
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