With another western Canadian harvest season under our belts, it’s time to look at some of this year’s harvest results – mainly to see how much winter wheat yielded versus spring wheat.

As of December 6, 2016, the results are in, and they show winter wheat taking the lead once again. With an average of 69.7 bushels per acre in Manitoba, a whopping 25.4 per cent higher than the average spring wheat yield in the province, winter wheat is the number one wheat crop yielder in Manitoba for 21 years in a row.

The stats are also good in the other Prairie provinces, with the average yield at 58.3 bushels per acre for Saskatchewan and 63.2 bushels per acre for Alberta, beating spring wheat’s 46.1 bushels per acre in Saskatchewan and 59.5 bushels per acre in Alberta.

What is the significance of these production results?

These results are further proof that winter wheat is one of the highest-producing crops per acre in Western Canada, making it one of the most profitable crops, again. When deciding what crops to plant in 2017, plan on seeding winter wheat in the fall. Not only does it allow for higher profits, winter wheat matures earlier than spring wheat, spreading out the workload. Winter wheat also makes better use of both spring and fall moisture. It looks like another wet fall could lead to a wet spring delaying seeding. Having winter wheat seeded now reduces stress as there are fewer acres to plant come spring.

Source: Statistics Canada