THE amount of land seeded to winter wheat this fall in western Canada is believed to be significantly lower because of the late harvest in Alberta and Saskatchewan, according to industry sources.  

"Based on early indications, it's possible winter wheat area in western Canada will be down at least 10% to 15% from the levels seen in the fall of 2007," said Bruce Burnett, director of the Weather and Crop Surveillance Department at the Canadian Wheat Board.

In terms of what was seeded, Burnett said the crop appears to be in generally good condition. The exception to this would be the excess rains in parts of central and southeastern areas of Manitoba.

Because temperatures have been a bit above normal and there were not any severe frost events, the crop was able to get a good start ahead of winter dormancy, he said.

While no official winter wheat acreage estimates were available, Burnett said the area seeded to winter wheat in Alberta and Saskatchewan was down significantly in comparison to the previous fall, due to the late harvest activities.

"The decline in Manitoba's winter wheat area will be less severe, as producers were able to finish harvest operations a bit sooner," he said.

Based on Statistics Canada data, the area seeded to winter wheat in western Canada in the fall of 2007 totaled 1.360 million acres, of which 550,000 were planted in Saskatchewan; 550,000 in Manitoba; and 260,000 in Alberta. In the fall of 2006, winter wheat acreage in western Canada was only 975,000 acres, of which area in Saskatchewan was 375,00 acres; Manitoba 440,000; and Alberta 160,000.

Jake Davidson, an executive director with Winter Cereals Canada, agreed that area to winter wheat in western Canada was significantly lower than it was at the same time a year ago.

No official estimates were available yet, he said, "but if I had to hazard a guess, I would say only half of last year's area was seeded to winter wheat."

Davidson associated the decline in winter wheat area with the late harvest.

"Last year at this time, the crops had been planted for almost a month or so. This year with the canola harvest occurring so late, producers were unable to meet the deadline for getting winter wheat into the ground in order to accommodate crop insurance," he said.

There were instances in which producers were planting winter wheat into pea stubble, which is not the most desirable, Davidson said.

-By Dwayne Klassen, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires