This extends the $250,000 limit, which was set in March 2025.

Producers can receive an additional $250,000 interest free on canola only for a total of $500,000.

“By increasing the interest-free portion of the Advance Payments Program, we’re helping farmers manage costs, while giving them more flexibility to market their products on their terms,” Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Heath MacDonald said in an April 1 news release.

The program offers up to $1 million to Canadian farmers based on the expected value of their agricultural products. Twenty-four industry groups across Canada deliver the program.

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture praised the extension of the $250,000 interest-free limit.

“Maintaining the $250,000 interest free portion reflects the realities farmers are facing today,” said CFA president Keith Currie.

“We are seeing continued volatility in input costs, supply chains and global markets, and this type of support is important in helping farmers navigate those pressures.”

“We look forward to continuing to work with government to secure a permanent increase to the interest free portion of the program, so that producers have the predictability they need to make informed business decisions in an increasingly complex operating environment,” he added.

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AAFC cautioned that the conflict in Iran “has heightened geopolitical tensions and market volatility,” and noted that planting decisions could be altered while “the report is based on information and trade policies in effect as of March 11, 2026.”

Canola

• Projected canola ending stocks for 2025-26 were left unchanged at 2.76 million tonnes, while the 2026-27 forecast was cut by 200,000 tonnes from February at 1.46 million tonnes.

• Given average yields, AAFC forecast Canadian canola production in 2026-27 at 19.20 million tonnes, which was unchanged from the February estimate and down from the 21.80 million tonnes grown in 2025-26.

Wheat

• New crop wheat ending stocks were raised to 5.75 million tonnes from 5.70 million in February, while the 2025-26 wheat carryout held at 7.35 million tonnes.

• AAFC raised its call on wheat production to 35.01 million tonnes, from 34.98 million the previous month. That would still be well below the 39.96 million tonnes harvested in 2025-26.

Pulses

• Other notable revisions included slight increases in pea and lentil production estimates, with ending stocks of the two pulses also up by 100,000 tonnes each from the previous forecast.

• The pea carryout for 2026-27 was raised to 945,000 tonnes from 845,000 tonnes in February, while lentils were forecast at 1.67 million from 1.57 million tonnes.

• Pea ending stocks for the current marketing year are estimated at 1.31 million tonnes with lentils at 1.695 million tonnes.

Soybeans/Corn

• Corn ending stocks for both 2025-26 and 2026-27 were left at 2.00 million tonnes.

• Soybean carryout for 2026-27 was cut by 50,000 tonnes from February, at 693,000 tonnes, which compares with 443,000 for the current marketing year.

March estimates for Canadian major crops supply and demand: in million tonnes. Source: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

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In a March 9 letter to Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Heath MacDonald, the group called for an “immediate pause on closures and employee terminations for a minimum of 24 months” so the government can re-evaluate decisions and protect “irreplaceable components of the research system, or offer enhancements to Canada’s agriculture landscape that may have been overlooked.”

WHY IT MATTERS: The planned closure of seven federal research centres and farms across Canada has been widely panned by agriculture groups, which say Canada could be less innovative and competative as a result.

The letter also calls for full transparency on the decision-making process and disclosure of any impact analysis done.

The group includes groups like the National Farmers Union (NFU), Canadian Organic Growers, Alberta Federation of Agriculture and Canadian Seed Growers Association.

The groups say the research cuts, which included over 600 staff and seven research stations, were made without consultation with farm groups or proper cost-benefit analysis.

It also criticized the suggestion universities and the private sector could make up for research cut by the government.

Universities “are cash-strapped, and grant funding is short term, precarious, and often tied to commercial partners,” the groups wrote. “They do not have access to the secure, dedicated land base or provide the stability required for long-term studies and multi-site plant breeding trials or agronomic studies.”

Private sector research, it added, is “shaped by commercial priorities and cannot address the range of research topics needed by farmers or for Canada’s long-term food and agriculture sector’s success.”

It also said research at the shuttered stations are vital to combating complex issues like climate change and disease.

“It is increasingly clear to us that the decision to eliminate this critical public research infrastructure was made without considering its true value to farmers, the Canadian public and the future of our food and agriculture system,” the groups said.

In hearings before the House of Commons agriculture committee, federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald said it’s too expensive to keep all research facilities open. Operational costs had been allowed to get “out of hand,” he said in a February hearing, and the sites had substantial maintenance backlogs.

The cuts to AAFC research and staffing have also drawn criticism from opposition MPs.

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AAFC projected total planted area for 2026/27 at 31.70 million hectares, slipping 103,000 from the previous year. Total harvested area was little changed at 30.71 million hectares.

Related: USDA sees more soybean acres, less corn

“Seeding decisions are expected to be shaped by crop rotation needs, prevailing moisture conditions, anticipated price levels and input costs and availability,” AAFC wrote. “Under current market conditions and based on historical patterns, total seeded area for Canadian field crops is projected to broadly stable year-over-year.”

The agency also forecast yields to return to normal levels in 2026/27 from the unexpected increases in 2025/26. With overall production to decrease, ending stocks have been projected to decline significantly in 2026/27, despite slower exports.

Wheat

• All wheat area was projected to remain relatively steady at 10.94 million hectares. Of that total, durum area is to be 2.46 million hectares versus 2.64 million in 2025/26. Wheat (no durum) is to expand to 8.48 million hectares from nearly 8.30 million in 2025/26.
• AAFC kept all wheat production for the coming crop year at 34.98 million tonnes.
• Wheat ending stocks were kept at 5.700 million tonnes for 2026/27, with those for 2025/26 slipping to 7.35 million.

Canola

• Planted canola area for 2026/27 stayed at January’s 8.92 million hectares, up from 8.75 million the previous year.
• However, yields are to drop to 2.17 tonnes per hectare from 2.51 in 2025/26. That’s to lower production by almost 12 per cent at 19.20 million tonnes.
• AAFC kept its call for 2025/26 canola exports to 8.20 million tonnes and those for 2026/27 remained at 7.50 million.
• Canola ending stocks were nudged up by 10,000 tonnes each for 2025/26 at 2.76 million tonnes and 2026/27 at 1.66 million tonnes.

Barley/Oats

• AAFC kept its estimate on planted barley area for this spring at 2.64 million hectares, up from 2.48 million last year. Ending stocks are to drop from 1.60 million tonnes in 2025/26 to 900,000 in 2026/27.
• The agency also maintained planted oat area for 2026/27 at 1.24 million hectares, slightly higher from the year before. Based on a more average yield of 3.43 t/ha. production is to drop to 3.55 million tonnes from last year’s 3.92 million.

Soybeans/Corn

• There were no changes in AAFC’s corn data for 2026/27, and it was much the same for soybeans. The agency raised 2026/27 soybean ending stocks to 743,000 tonnes from 650,000 last month.

Peas/Lentils

• AAFC kept most of its January pulse numbers in its February report.
• Pea production stayed at 2.85 million tonnes for 2026/27, as did lentils at 2.25 million tonnes. In 2025/26 peas came in at 3.93 million tonnes with lentils at 3.36 million.
• Ending stocks were bumped up from January, with dry peas now at 845,000 tonnes and lentils at 1.57 million.

1 hectare = 2.47 acres

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At least four meetings will be held.

The deputy minister of agriculture, Lawrence Hanson, and two assistants were the first witnesses to appear.

Hanson said as part of the comprehensive expenditure review across government, his department had to find $154.7 million in savings by 2028-29. Those savings are occurring across the department, but the coming changes to research operations have hit particularly hard.

WHY IT MATTERS: Public research is seen as critical to enhancing Canada’s productivity and efficiency throughout agriculture and all farm organizations have criticized the decision.

Hanson said the department’s operating budget is about $800 million annually, and science and research facilities account for about $300 million of that. In turn, $90 million of the $300 million is spent on corporate support, including maintenance and utilities associated with running 20 research centres and 25 satellite centres.

Most efficient use of funds

Over time, the facilities have required more upkeep.

“It was determined it would be a much more efficient use of funds to consolidate science efforts in fewer facilities and priorize science efforts that are most core to the department’s mandate, rather than diverting more and more resources to operational costs and upkeep,” Hanson said.

Thus the decision was made to close Quebec City, Guelph, Ont., and Lacombe, Alta., and four satellite farms at Scott and Indian Head in Saskatchewan, Portage la Prairie, Man., and Nappan, N.S.

He said 27 research scientists will not stay in their current location or be offered an equivalent position elsewhere. The federal government will remain the largest agricultural research organization in the country, he added, and every province will have at least one centre.

Regina-Qu’Appelle Conservative MP Andrew Scheer attended the meeting and said he was there to fight for the Indian Head farm, which employs 30 full-time employees and more during the summer.

Alain Legace, assistant deputy minister of corporate management, said the total operating cost for Indian Head is $3.8 million a year. Costs will continue because the divestiture will take years, he said.

Scheer asked if the department had assessed whether costs could be reduced and still keep the site open.

Hanson said the question isn’t whether the site could remain viable with more investment.

“The answer is, we have decided that the greatest level of savings and efficiency could come by consolidating our efforts elsewhere,” he said.

Some of the Indian Head research is to be moved to Outlook, Sask., where the federal government is a partner at the irrigation centre.

MPs pointed out that there are various soil types across the country, and research conducted at one site won’t necessarily fit elsewhere.

Andrew Goldstein, associate assistant deputy minister in the science and technology branch, said the department is aware of the differences, but with four sites in Saskatchewan remaining, it believes it can “generate sufficient diversity to continue our programs.”

Government spending criticized

Scheer and others criticized previous government spending of $8.5 million on a cricket farm and $8.2 million on a low-carbon rice program in Vietnam.

And some noted that a government Scheer was part of had cut the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration and the Shelterbelt Centre at Indian Head about a dozen years ago.

Bloc Quebecois MP Sebastien Lemire said his region was affected during the 2012 cuts by the former Stephen Harper government, and his party is against the latest cuts.

Blaine Calkins, the Alberta Conservative MP for Ponoka-Didsbury, which includes the Lacombe Research Centre, said he hasn’t heard from anyone who thinks closing the centre is a good idea. He said the cuts are coming at the expense of producers and asked if the decision is reversible.

“We are not reconsidering this decision,” Hanson responded.

“We do believe that there are other people we can partner with and other universities and move some of this work elsewhere.”

Legace said it will take 12 months to wind down scientific activity. After that, the property will be divested following a Treasury Board process that requires it to be offered first to other government departments, then provincial and territorial governments and then municipalities and First Nations.

The officials said they could not guarantee any of the land would remain agricultural.

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“Transparency is essential when decisions affect the foundation of Canada’s agricultural research system,” said GGC chair Scott Hepworth in a Friday news release.

WHY IT MATTERS: In recent weeks, AAFC has confirmed it will be cutting 665 jobs and closing seven research centres across Canada — moves that have drawn broad criticism from the industry.

GGC said the cuts required impact assessments and will hinder the ability to assess downstream consequences on Canadian agriculture. It called for immediate clarity on affected programs, facilities and research capacity.

“Without clear disclosure of what research capacity is being reduced or eliminated, the sector cannot understand the long-term risks to production and competitiveness,” Hepworth added. “It must be clear what capacity is being lost, where, and with what consequences.”

GGC criticized the department for not providing more transparency around the reasoning for the cuts and for citing personnel confidentiality as their reasoning.

“Personnel confidentiality is not a barrier to clarity on program impacts,” Hepworth said, adding transparency about the affected programs is “both possible and necessary.”

In a previous statement to Glacier FarmMedia, a representative from AAFC cited “a careful review of the department’s science activities, sector priorities, capacity, and infrastructure” for the decisions.

The statement also said the choices “position AAFC to sustain strong scientific capacity, improve efficiency, and concentrate resources where they will continue to generate scientific, economic and environmental benefits.”

GGC also raised concerns about the potential impacts the cuts will have on research capacity, regional expertise and innovation in the sector.

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The two organizations issued a statement Feb. 3 saying they are concerned about the reductions, particularly at Nappan, N.S., Quebec City and Lacombe, Alta., and they offered suggestions on how some of the research could be saved.

“We recognize the fiscal pressures facing the federal government; however, the cuts will have far-reaching impacts for cattle producers, the beef industry, consumers and Canada’s efforts to grow the economy and diversify export markets,” they said.

In the last 10 years, beef producers have increased their research contributions by more than 600 per cent as an investment in future economic growth and competitiveness, the statement said. Public-good research is essential where market incentives are limited or independent expertise is required, it said.

WHY IT MATTERS: Cuts and closures at Agriculture Agri-Food Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency have been announced as part of the federal expenditure review. The industry has denounced the cuts, saying they will limit Canada’s ability to innovate and compete.

CCA president Tyler Fulton said research capacity can’t easily be rebuilt.

“Canada’s beef producers rely on a stable, high-performing public research network to deliver the tools, evidence and innovations that keep farms resilient, food safe and our sector competitive,” he said.

“When research capacity is lost, it isn’t quickly rebuilt. Cattle producers and the public pay the price for years and even decades.”

The loss of programs at Nappan, Quebec City and Lacombe will all affect forage breeding, which is the foundation of the beef industry.

Work at Lacombe led to extended grazing practices that helped producers cut winter feeding costs and survive the BSE crisis, the statement said.

Researcher Vern Baron at Lacombe did much of this work and more recently began collaborating with others in Quebec to develop higher-yielding winter hardy alfalfa varieties. At Nappan, grazing management research and new forage varieties have been adopted across the country.

Researchers at Lacombe also developed the beef instrument grading technology currently used worldwide.

Closing Lacombe means Canada has lost its only meat science program “and will not have the scientific expertise needed to address questions of grade equivalency in any of the foreign export markets the Canadian beef sector is hoping to diversity into.”

Lacombe also housed a food safety team.

CCA and BCRC said if the cuts go ahead as they stand, they want critical capacity and programs transferred. These include moving the national carcass quality and grading research program to the University of Guelph, where there is a federally inspected research abattoir.

They said they understand the lead Lacombe food safety researcher may be transferred to Lethbridge and want that confirmed.

They want forage breeding at Nappan and Quebec City maintained or transferred.

And, they want industry investments refunded if Agriculture Canada chooses to cancel projects midway through their terms.

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Three Agriculture Agri-Food Canada research and development centres and four satellite research farms will close, the federal government has confirmed Friday.

Research and development centres at Guelph, Ont., Quebec City, Que., and Lacombe, Alta., will close, an AAFC spokesperson said in a statement on Friday afternoon.

Satellite research farms at Nappan, N.S., Scott, Sask., Indian Head, Sask. and Portage la Prairie, Man., will also close.

The announcement comes after Thursday’s news that 665 AAFC jobs were to be cut.

“Like other federal departments, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) has identified savings over three years while remaining focused on its core mandate,” AAFC said.

“AAFC will remain Canada’s largest agricultural research organization, with 17 research centres nationwide and research farmland in every province. There are no imminent site closures, and any wind-down of scientific operations would follow a careful decision process that could take up to 12 months. Many employees may be retained, reassigned, or relocated. It is too early to determine final workforce impacts.”

Restructuring Canada’s agriculture research landscape

The organic and regenerative agriculture research program led by Myriam Fernandez at the Swift Current Research and Development Centre is among those cut.

Fernandez has been working on low input agriculture research for about 25 years and some plots at the centre were organic for the last 19 years. SaskOrganics said the loss would have a significant impact on the sector’s ability to conduct research because it doesn’t have a lot of financial support.

Cuts to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) could be a step toward restructuring Canada’s agriculture research landscape, according to national stakeholders.

Keith Currie, President of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) called the cutbacks a “necessary evil” and said Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Heath MacDonald and Deputy Minister Lawrence Hanson have their “fingers on the pulse of the ministry.”

“There’s nothing wrong with efficiencies,” Currie said. “And if … there were hirings that didn’t make sense, taking a look at it and getting leaner and meaner, I think that’s what we do in business. That’s what you do on our farms.”

He added there have been jobs added in the last decade that some producers have “kind of scratched our head at.”

“Having said that, it depends where these cuts are going to happen,” he continued. “We’ve been clamoring for probably 10, 15 years about not enough public sector research.”

Tyler McCann, Managing Director of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI) said the cutbacks, particularly the reported closures of research sites, were a predictable development.

“(AAFC) has, for decades now, not been investing in its infrastructure,” he said. “It has not been keeping up the investments it needed to make to maintain quality modern research infrastructure.”

“It is inevitable, if you don’t invest, that at a certain point in time you will need to start to close facilities. And that appears to be where we’re at today.”

He added politicians were likely responding to the signals from the broader agriculture community, which he said has not always championed science and research among other issues like trade and business risk management.

“Hopefully this reminds everyone else in the ag ecosystem that research and development and innovation is critical to competitiveness, and we need to double down on making that a priority going forward.”

McCann said an upside of the cuts is that they could provide an opportunity for a renewal point in agriculture research in Canada.

“Hopefully Agriculture Canada will start to show some leadership on this and engage with the other stakeholders who have significant skin in the game, other R&D funders, other R&D performers, in what that renewal looks like.”

It could be a chance for the AAFC to do more with less. McCann said there is an argument to be made that the department “had too broad of a research footprint for the research funding envelope that they had.”

“What will determine whether or not we can be competitive at a time of cuts is whether or not they’re going to make other changes to how they fund and do research to streamline and improve the efficiency of the work that they do.”

Currie and McCann both said it would be important to keep on those with roles to play in the recently announced Next Policy Framework, which will cover the 2028-33 period.

“That is a real opportunity for governments and the stakeholder community around them to double down on innovation and to say, yes, we know that (AAFC) shrank its footprint, but in the Next Policy Framework, for the next five years, governments are going to commit more resources and more energy and more focus to innovation,” McCann said.

Currie also pointed to the agriculture trade file and the temporary foreign worker/seasonal agriculture worker programs as areas he hoped would remain steady.

Competitiveness, productivity implications

University of Saskatchewan agricultural economist Richard Gray said the loss of research programs is concerning.

Public research cost-benefit returns are 35:1 in wheat alone, he said. Other countries that have cut public research in favour of private funding have seen productivity gains decline.

Gray added he hopes the government has a new funding model in mind since the cuts don’t fit with the growth model currently touted by prime minister Mark Carney.

“I think it’s a shame and disgrace that we’re not, as a country, supporting one of the foundations of our country in an appropriate manner that will keep the industry competitive and vibrant on the world stage,” said Ken Coles, executive director of Lethbridge-based research and innovation group Farming Smarter.

Coles said this was a problem with leadership in general, and basically underestimating the importance of agriculture to a country.

He said investment has slumped from provincial and private angles as well.

“Our agricultural innovation system is a complete HR crisis. I don’t think we have the human capital to deal with any challenges that we might be facing in the future, and we certainly won’t be able to take advantage of any opportunities and innovation,” Coles said.

“It’s been a critical loss in capacity that allowed us to do great things in agriculture. I think we no longer have it.”

Coles said it’s difficult for his organization to hire scientists with the right skills. They instead have to be trained “from the ground up.”

“Everybody’s excited and sold these grand new ideas of new technologies solving things. But you still hear the same message that we’re failing at adopting and commercializing innovation,” Coles said.

“All the innovation is on this public entrepreneur piece, and they don’t know how to add value in agriculture. It goes well beyond just this layoff. It’s another blow to breaking the innovation system in agriculture across the country.”

There’s an insidious aspect to cutting research, said Reynold Bergen, science director at the Beef Cattle Research Council.

“It’s like a really long hose. Think of water running out of a long hose, and you shut the tap off and water keeps running until it doesn’t,” he said.

“We may not see impact right away from a production perspective, but the impact will come, they’ll show up.”

One way to predict the impact is to look at past benefits of forage, beef and cattle research from AAFC, Bergen said.

“If you think of some of the things that have come out, where would you be without them? So where would you be without new varieties? Where would you be without extended grazing? Where would you be without good controls on food safety? Where would you be without a good grading system? Those are the kind of impacts that we will see down the line.

Industry reacts

The Canadian Wheat Research Coalition said the staff cuts and resulting impacts are a tremendous loss for the industry.

“It is a loss of not only expertise and people who have contributed to farmers’ success, but also of agricultural research capacity that is crucial to fueling innovation and maintaining progress throughout the industry,” said chair Jocelyn Velestuk in a news release.

The CWRC was already reviewing Canada’s wheat breeding innovation system and said this is even more vital now. It said long-term impacts aren’t yet clear.

Manitoba-based producer group Keystone Agricultural Producers was attempting to parse out the implications of closures in an interview prior to the AAFC statement confirming closures.

General manager Colin Hornby said his first concern was how this would affect farmers.

“We want to make sure that there’s no funding cuts that negatively impact the services programs or whatever value it is that producers get from AAFC,” he said.

Hypothetically, Hornby said, mass shutdowns of research centres and layoffs would impact the science-based tools KAP needs, but it’s difficult to know for sure until more details are made available.

“I’m just trying to wrap my head around what type of roles they are eliminating. Is it field research stations? Is it people in Ottawa?” Hornby said. “We’re all piecing it together from different parts.”

Lancome-area MP, MLA “deeply upset”

“We are deeply upset that this federal Liberal government has decided to shut down the agriculture research station in Lacombe,” said Blaine Calkins, MP for Ponoka-Didsbury and Jennifer Johnson, MLA for Lancombe-Ponoka in a joint statement posted on X.

Calkins and Johnson listed advancements in meat science and plant science, including in forage and pasture production, as key contributions made by researchers at the Lancombe centre.

“A trailblazing organization in our community for 119-years, now closing because of this governments’ radical anti-rural agenda.”

-With files from Jonah Grignon, Jeff Melchior, Alexis Kienlen, Karen Briere and Geralyn Wichers

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A letter from Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lawrence Hanson to AAFC staff posted on Reddit stated the department has finalized a review following decisions in the 2025 budget.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s mandate letter also listed “spending less on government operations” as one of its seven priorities.

Employees affected by the cuts will be formally notified on Jan. 22.

“I want to emphasize that none of these difficult decisions were taken lightly,” said Hanson in the letter. “They have been guided by the need to ensure spending is sustainable and activities reflect the Department’s core mandate.”

An Agriculture Agri-Food Canada spokesperson has confirmed the letter.

“Details will be shared with employees first, in keeping with the Department’s obligations and out of respect for its personnel,” the spokesperson said in a statement sent to Glacier FarmMedia.

“We do not have any additional information to share at this time.”

AAFC employed 5,690 people as of March 2025, according to the Government of Canada.

AAFC’s 2025-26 departmental plan shows an expected decrease in full-time equivalents in the 2026-27 crop year, which it says “reflects a reduction in support for the Agricultural Clean Technology Program and for the Youth Employment and Skills Program and reflects attrition and vacancy management under the refocusing government spending exercise.”

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Crop rotations, moisture conditions, price expectations and input costs/availability will be the main factors determining seeding decisions, said AAFC. “Additionally, heightened uncertainty surrounding international trade is expected to play a role in shaping planting strategies this year,” said the government agency.

Wheat

• Wheat area is projected to decrease 0.3 per cent, at 10.937 million hectares. Of that total, durum area is expected to decline to 2.461 million hectares, from 2.643 million in 2025/26, while other wheat will increase 2.2 per cent to 8.476 million hectares.
• A return to average yields would see total wheat production down 12.5 per cent on the year, at 34.979 million tonnes.
• Wheat ending stocks are forecast to dip to 5.700 million tonnes by the close of the 2026/27 marketing year, which compares with an estimated carryout of 7.5 million tonnes projected for 2025/26.

Canola

• Planted canola area is forecast to be up 1.9 per cent on the year, at 8.915 million hectares.
• However, production is forecast to decline to 19.200 million tonnes from the record 21.804 million tonnes grown in 2025/26 given a return to average yields.
• AAFC raised its call for 2025/26 canola exports to 8.200 million tonnes, from an earlier estimate of 8.000 million tonnes. Exports for 2026/27 were forecast at 7.500 million tonnes.
• Canola ending stocks were estimated at 2.750 million tonnes for the current marketing year and 1.650 million tonnes in 2026/27.

Barley/Oats

• Barley area is forecast to increase 6.1 per cent on the year, to 2.635 million hectares, while total production will dip to 8.450 million tonnes from 9.725 million tonnes the previous year.
• Oats area is projected to increase by 1.8 per cent, at 1.235 million hectares, with production down 9.4 per cent at 3.550 million tonnes.

Peas/Lentils

• Area planted to peas is forecast to be down 15.5 per cent, at 1.200 million hectares, while lentils are forecast to see a 9.7 per cent reduction in seeded area.
• Pea production is forecast to be down by 1.1 million tonnes on the year, at 2.850 million tonnes. Lentil production is expected to see a similar cut to production, at 2.250 million tonnes.

Soybeans/Corn

• A return to average yields in Eastern Canada, after hot and dry conditions hurt corn and soybean yields in 2025/26, is forecast to result in increased production for the two crops.
• Soybean area is forecast to increase by 2.6 per cent, at 2.401 million hectares, with production rising to 7.600 million tonnes from 6.793 million tonnes in 2025/26.
• While corn area is expected to be down by 0.7 per cent, at 1.520 million hectares, the early call from AAFC is for production to rise to 15.200 million tonnes from 14.867 million in 2025/26.

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