Stat Can out of date again

The latest report from Statistics Canada is again generating more questions than answers. Between September 1 and 9, nearly 3,000 Saskatchewan farmers were surveyed on their crop production expectations. The results were released yesterday and analysts immediately started picking the numbers apart. The biggest problem is the long time lag. In early September when farmers were being called, most everyone was watching it rain and waiting to get into the field. Today, those same farmers know a whole lot more about how their crop is turning out. Most would probably say that canola yields are coming in significantly higher than expected. Most chickpea growers will tell you that their crop has been hit hard by frost. That throws in doubt the Stat Can projections that Saskatchewan chickpea production is going to rise 40 per cent as compared to last year. Observers are also having trouble reconciling the millions of unseeded and flooded acres. Stat Can hasn’t cut its expectation of harvested area as much as many expect. There has been no information released from crop insurance on actual seeded acres and there is no information yet on the uptake for the Excess Moisture Program. It’ll be interesting to compare those numbers with what Stat Can is reporting. I’m Kevin Hursh.