Don’t believe Stats Can

What a waste. The seeded acreage report released yesterday by Statistics Canada has almost no value. More than 7,500 Saskatchewan farmers were surveyed for the report, but the survey took place from May 25 to June 3. At the time, seeding was 67 per cent complete and Stats Can just assumed that farmers would end up seeding what they were planning. Instead, seeding progress stalled at about 75 per cent. The Stats Can report says Saskatchewan farmers seeded a record area of lentils and canola, while also increasing the acreage of crops like canaryseed. In reality, the report tells us nothing. Canaryseed, lentil and canola prices wouldn’t be rising if the trade actually believed that acreages had hit the targets. There’s far too much time between when farmers are surveyed and when the information is released. That’s an ongoing problem with the Stats Can reports. And in this case, Stats Can didn’t anticipate very well. Farmers should have been asked what crops they still had left to seed. With the addition of that information, a much more accurate picture of seeded acreage could now be generated. Instead, all the effort has been wasted. I’m Kevin Hursh.